Selfless or Selfish

Imam Sirr al-Saqati narrates:

— For thirty years I have been asking God's forgiveness for an Alhamdolillah (Thanks and praise be to God) which I uttered with joy thirty years ago. When asked if it was a sin to praise and thank God, Sirr al-Saqati explained:

— In the Mosque of Baghdad, even as I was teaching the Prophetic Tradition, 'The one who does not feel troubled because of the troubles of Muslims', a man came rushing in and said that a great fire had broken out in the Baghdad market burning all the shops to ashes, but adding: ‘Nothing has happened to your shop'. Glad that my shop had been saved from the fire, and not remembering that all the other shops had not, I happened to utter 'Alhamdolillah'. That was clearly a selfish act. While the shops of all other people were burnt, I should not have been rejoicing over mine being saved. It is for that selfish act of mine that I have been asking God's forgiveness for thirty years and praying to God that He may not make me a selfish one.

Sirr al-Saqati continued to repent of that act until his death. Before he died, he asked to be buried in a solitary place no one knew of, and explained why:

— It sometimes happens that earth throws out the dead bodies of some sinful ones so that the living ones may take a lesson. If I am a selfish one who does not feel troubled because of the troubles of other Muslims, the earth may throw me out. So [bury me some unknown place so that the people do not know me as one wicked and sinful to that degree. 

A box full of.....!!!!

Nowadays it is very depressing to read newspapers. They are invariably always full of violence, crimes and rubbish.
Seldom we come across something inspiring. It seems the media people have lost their soul. They don't go after truth. They lack commitment. They don't have vigour and passion for their profession. Simply they lack social responsibility.
Fed up with this, I had quit reading newspapers altogether. But somehow or other I return to them to be depressed once again.

Once in a blue moon I get some great news to cheer about.
The story of a box full of kisses is one such story. yeah, it is not news. Just a story. But is inspiring, mellowing and heartening.
Read and get inspired.

Once, a man punished his 3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became infuriated when the child tried to decorate a box.

Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, "This is for you, Abba."

The man was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared again when he found out the box was empty. He yelled at her, stating, "Don't you know, when you give someone a present, there is supposed to be something inside?
The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and cried,

"Oh, Abbajan, it's not empty at all. I blew kisses into the box. They're all for you, Abba."

The father was crushed.

He put his arms around his little girl, and he begged for her forgiveness.

Only a short time later, an accident took the life of the child. It is also told that her father kept that gold box by his bed for many years and, whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.

Moral of the story:-In a very real sense, each one of us, as humans beings, have been given a gold container filled with unconditional love and kisses... from our children, family members, friends, and Allah. There is simply no other possession, anyone could hold, more precious than this.