The Swans

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

As the migration season was about over, the mother swan finally figured out a way to transport her 2 young children who cannot fly very well. She instructed her children to each bite on to one side of her wings and told them that they will see wonderful and exciting and not so wonderful and exciting things along the journey but warned them not to ask her any questions but hold on to the bite and be patient. So, off she went up and up the sky with her 2 children on each side of her wings. As they were passing a great valley full of colors, one of the children looked down. Curious as to what it was, he asked the mom but before long...he hit the ground. The sister who saw what happened to the brother tried to alert her mom...and before long she too hit the ground.

This is a rough summary from a children story book I read when I was 7 or 8 years old. I do wish I can find the story book because the book will give you a much better storytelling (I have forgotten most of the details).

When I told my children this story the other day, the first thing that they asked...why didn't the mom told her children that they will die if they opened their mouths?

The morale of the story is that you follow what your parents tell you. There maybe no explanation that you can understand for why they want you to do certain things; or it might take too much time to explain and there isn't much time; or it might be of little or no benefit at that moment to provide the reasons when the act being sought is of urgent nature; or any explanation might open to questions which answers do not make any difference to the command or act being sought and only lead to unnecessary waste of time.

This is also true in seeking religious knowledge or learning how to read Qur'an with proper tajweed. Maybe it gives us comfort to know the reasons and evidence for certain rulings, but we don't learn this way all the time. It is of no benefit to you when the objective is to start doing the acts properly. Already there is plenty to learn just to get our acts of worship done properly or reading the Qur'an properly for that matter. Proofs and evidences is for higher level of studies.

Here, the mother swan was more concerned of getting out of the region before the blizzards. She had a small window and the journey was long. The mother swan knew this because she had been around for a while and have experienced many migrations. Her main concern was to save her children from disaster. It is ironic that the little one's curiosity led to his demise and his sister's demise, but who to blame when they didn't listen to the one who has knowledge and wisdom?

So, we hear and we obey.

آمَنَ الرَّ‌سُولُ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِن رَّ‌بِّهِ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ ۚ كُلٌّ آمَنَ بِاللَّـهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُ‌سُلِهِ لَا نُفَرِّ‌قُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّن رُّ‌سُلِهِ ۚ وَقَالُوا سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا ۖ غُفْرَ‌انَكَ رَ‌بَّنَا وَإِلَيْكَ الْمَصِيرُ‌ ﴿٢٨٥

The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and [so have] the believers. All of them have believed in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers, [saying], "We make no distinction between any of His messengers." And they say, "We hear and we obey. [We seek] Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the [final] destination."

May Allah help us to obey Him. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam