A Letter from a King

From http://qisas.com/stories/265

A Letter From a King

Imagine that one day a man receives a letter from a grand king. It says:

“Dear so and so, I would like you to come to my court tomorrow. Or if you can’t, then the day after tomorrow. Signed, your King”

He receives that letter and reads it. He loves the letter so much that he reads it more than once out loud. And then he puts it down and continues with his day. The following day, he picks up the letter again and he reads it out loud again in a more melodious voice “…I would like youuuuuu to coooomme to my couuurt…” and then he puts the letter down and continues with his day. Eventually, he reads the letter so many times that he even commits it to memory.

Meanwhile, the King is awaiting this man’s arrival at his court. He asks one of his courtiers to see what has kept this man. His courtier returns to the king to report that the man reads his letter every day in a very lovely melodious voice and then puts the letter down and continues with his day. Do you think the King would be pleased with this man?

Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has revealed to us the Qur’an as guidance so that we may follow and implement its teachings through actions in our lives. Let us not be like the man who reads the letter, without implementing its contents.

—from Habib Ali’s course on Sunnipath: Journey to Allah