- Plant knowledge *
Imam Muhammad Abdul Rauf Munawi Shafi'i (may God have mercy on him) writes: When a king went out hunting, he saw an old man planting an olive tree.
The king said to him:
O man, you are very old when the olive tree bears fruit after thirty years, then why are you planting this tree?
The old man replied:
Peace, O king! We ate the fruit of the trees that were planted before us,
Now we are planting trees for our successors.
The king was pleased to hear this answer and said: "Zah."
It was the custom of the kings of Iran that when a king said this word to a person, he would be given a thousand dinars (ie gold coins).
The man was given a thousand dinars, so he asked the king again:
King, peace be upon you. The olive tree bears fruit after thirty years, but it bears fruit immediately.
The king said "Zah" again and the old man was given a thousand dinars more.
The old man asked the king for the third time:
King, peace be upon you. The olive tree bears fruit once a year, but it bears fruit twice at the same time.
The king then said "Zah" and the old man was given a thousand dinars for the third time.
Seeing this scene, they hurried away with the king's caravan and said:
If we stand by this man, all the king's treasury will be empty.
We are still reaping the fruits of the knowledge that our forefathers planted centuries ago.
It is now our responsibility to protect the plants planted by our forefathers, that is, their books, and to spread new knowledge plants that will be beneficial to our future generations.
Doing so will not only benefit others, but also benefit the old planter.
In the same way, insha'Allah, the one who serves knowledge with sincerity will not be in need of anyone in the world.