Beautiful Flower in Dirty Soil

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

ا سَـــــــلاَمُ عَلَيــْــكُم وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكـَـاتُه

A little boy, named Ren was enjoying the beauty of the garden in his home. His father had a good collection of rare and exotic plants. He grew them with tender care.

Ren was fascinated by a plant full of fine and fragrant flowers. He went near to the plant and enjoyed its beauty and the fragrance of its fine flowers. Suddenly he noted that the plant was growing in a heap of filth. He could not tolerate the presence of dirt at the bottom of the plant with such fantastic flowers.

Ren conceived a plan to clean the plant. He pulled the plant with all his might and uprooted it. He then carried it to the tap and washed the shoot and roots in running tap-water till all traces of dirt were washed away. Ren then placed the plant on a clean stone and went away, thinking that he had done a great deed indeed.

Later his father Reiichi came to the garden and saw the uprooted plant. Its flowers and leaves had wilted and the plant had almost died in the scorching sun. His little son ran to him to exhibit his achievement. “I have cleaned it, Daddy”, He reported innocently. “It was placed in dirty soil. Now it is clean.”

Reiichi showed him how his treatment had almost killed the plant. He told him that he had collected the filthy soil and placed it to cover the plant’s roots as it was the best medium to grow that plant. It could grow up healthily and produce fine flowers only if grown in filthy soil. He was sad that the plant had suffered and withered by his action.

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Pain, poverty and illness may cause agony in our life. Sight of successful persons may make us depressed and envious. A great gardener mixes the right soil for each plant. In the same way God provides each of us with the best environment required for optimum spiritual growth. But it may appear to be unpleasant to us and we may even complain to God about our plight
.