A Treasury of Stories from the Quran —for the very young

These are some of the best-loved tales from the Quran. Especially
chosen for the very young, they provide a foundation on which to build
a growing knowledge of the scriptures. This is story-telling at its best,

with the meaning and message expressed in the simplest of words.

As well as being easy to understand, these stories are also fun to read

and share with others. Colourful, child-friendly illustrations complement

the text and bring the stories vividly to life.

ISBN 81-7898-347-8

Goodwordkjck
Helping you build a family of faith 9 788 78
I 983479
www.goodwordbooks com . ?400
This book belongs to
 Illustrated by Achla Anand, Gurmeet,
Ramendranath Sarkar, Sujata Bansal
First published 2004
Reprinted 201
© Goodword Books 201

Goodword Books
1 , Nizamuddin West Market, New Delhi-1 10 013
email: info@goodwordbooks.com

see our complete catalogue at

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Printed in India
Is/lore

for Kids
Qm^,! ^ones

SANIYASNAIN KHAN
GoodwordVcjcfi.
 CONTENTS
The Story of Two Gardens 5

Allah Speaks to the Prophet Musa ^ 25

The Wise Man and the Prophet Musa 47

The Pious Man and His Son 65

The Prophet Yusuf and the King's Dream 79

The Prophet Hud and the Storm 99

The Most Patient Man 121

The Iron Wall 137

The Old Man's Prayer 1 57

Luqman's Advice to His Son 1 81

Uzayr's Donkey 203

The Light of Allah 219

The Story of
Two Gardens
 o

Long long ago, there lived two friends.

One them was a rich gardener, while
of
the other one was a poor farmer. The
gardener 'owned a huge plot of land.
 and'
into two beautiful and
blooming gardens. They were fuif of
flowers and all kind of fruits,
especially grapes and dates. The
vineyards were set about with palm
trees and watered by a
stream.
 0

Whenever the 1
gardener would
-
visit his gardens,
he would be
"

thrilled by seeing

trees laden with

ripe fruits. His heart
would be filled

with pride and

arrogance.
iijjfagfr
He would think this was all a result of his hard
work and clever planning. He would ignore th
fact that his entire fortune was actually a
blessing from Allah. Without Allah's help, no o
achieve a single thing on this earth.
V

One day his friend, the poor farmer visited

him. The gardener took him around his
beautiful garden and proudly said to him, "I
am richer than you and my clan is mightier
than yours." Looking at he
his gardens,
continued: "Surely this will never perisliT^^
Puffed up with the evil of wealth he went ^
on denying the Day of Judgement: "Nor do~
”

Ibelieve that the hour of Doom will ever

come." ^
Then he added: "Even if I return to my Lord, I

shall surely find a better place than this."

Little did he realize that all this was wishful

thinking.
When the poor farmer noticed that his
friend was behaving in awicked way, he
tried to correct him. He added:"Have you
no faith in Him who created you from dust,
from a little germ and fashioned you into
,

a man?" The poor man went on :"As for

myself, Allah is my Lord, and will
I

associate no one else with Him."

He advised the gardener that instead of
entering the garden proudly, he should
have gone into it in all humility and should
have said: "What Allah has ordained must
surely come to pass: there is no strength
except in Allah."
"Though you see me poorer than yourself and blessed with fewer
children," the farmer argued, "yet my Lord may give me a garden
better than yours, and send down thunderbolts from heaven upon
your vineyards, turning them into a

barren waste, or drain their water

deep down into the earth, so that
you will get no benefit from it."
,-mmm
The very next day was struck by calamity. All the fruits were
destroyed. The gardener wrung his hands with grief at all
that he had spent on them, for the vines had t
upon their trellises. On seeing this he realised
and cried, "Would that had served no other g
I

my Lor
This story is meant to teach
believers never to speak proudly
but to say in all humility,

"Whatever Allah has ordained

must surely come to pass: there
is no power save with Allah."

Find Out More

To know more about the message and
meaning of Allah's words, look up the
following parts of the Quran which tell

the story of the two gardens.

Surah al-Kahf 18:32-42
Allah Speaks to the
Prophet Musa &
About 3000 years ago, Egypt
was ruled by a very cruel king
called Firawn or Pharaoh.
One day a court soothsayer told Firawn that
that year a boy would be born among the tribe
of the Children of Israel who would destroy
him and his kingdom.
Enraged, Firawn ordered all newborn
boys of the tribe to be killed. The
Children of Israel, already enslaved by
Firawn, suffered the torment of seeing
their newborn sons killed, while only
their daughters were spared.
mpm
During these horrible times a pious woman, called
Yukabid, of the Children of Israel, gave birth to a beautiful

boy who was named Musa or Moses ik. She was told by
Allah inspired her to put him in a box, which she was
to cast into the river Nile, with the promise that her
baby would be safe. She obeyed Allah's order, and as
the waves carried the box away, his sister kept a watch
There was picked up by a member of Firawn's household and
it

brought to the queen. The queen was a loving, kind-hearted woman.

When she saw the baby, her heart was touched and she exclaimed:
"What a lovely child! Whoever sees him cannot but love him."
Desnitp the king's objection, the queen decided to keep the baby in
him as her own child.
The Prophet Musa brought up with
 ut because Musa accidentally killed someone, Firawn
intended to slay him. Therefore, Musa quietly left the city and
Shuayb ^ and
 I'll
s >rlBSafe
' r.

•
.$>

Ik '

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•'•• -••
•
, MC* f
After spending some years in the beautiful valley of
Madyan, Musa returned with his family to Egypt.
They travelled slowly towards Mount Sinai, passing
throuah awesome land
One cold winter evening, as it grew darker and a cool breeze
began to blow, they seemed to have lost their way. Musa
looked around and noticed a fire quite far away on the side of a
mountain. He said: "Wait here! Look, I can see a fire in the
distance. Perhaps I can find out where we are, or at least get a i

burning brand to warm ourselves with!"

Allah toldhim that He
had chosen him as His
messenger and
commanded him to go
with these signs and give
His message to Firawn,
who had made himself a
tyrant in the land.

Find Out More

To know more about the message and meaning of Allah's words,
look up the following parts of the Quran which tell the story of
the Prophet Musa
Surah Ta Ha 20:38-40, Surah al-Qasas 28:7-35 jt" T

r
5Ui Alayhis Salam 'May peace be upon him.
The customary blessing on the prophets.
The Wise Man and
the Prophet Musa #
 '
*

ing the long journey to the Promised Land, the Prophet Musa ^
rned many lessons. One of these was from al-Khidr ("the green one").
Probably an angel in the form of a man, al-Khidr had special knowledge
and the power to make great changes in the affairs of the world.
The Prophet Musa began his long and tiring journey
along the seashore, making a vow to reach this special
servant of Allah: "I will not stop searching until I find
the place where the two seas meet."
Musa set out with his young disciple, Yusha bin Nun. At a
certain point the fish they were carrying to eat revived and
slipped away into the sea. As predicted, this is where they found
al-Khidr. "May I follow you, and be guided by your knowledge?"
Musa $ asked al-Khidr. "Impossible!" said al-Khidr, "For how can
you tolerate what is beyond your knowledge?" Musa $$ replied:
"If Allah will, you shall find me patient:
I shall in no way cross
you." Al-Khidr agreed but warned Musa not to question him
about anything until he mentioned it himself.
The two then embarked
upon a ship, whereupon
al-Khidr bored a hole in it.

Musa exclaimed: "Do you want to

i

drown the passengers?" "Didn't tell I

you," replied al-Khidr, "that you would

not bear with me?" "Forgive me," said
Musa £ur. "Please don't be angry."
They journeyed on until they met a young
boy, whom al-Khidr promptly killed. Musa ^
exclaimed: "What wickedness — killing an
innocent soul!" "Didn't I tell you," al-Khidr
you would not bear with me?"
replied, "that
Musa said: "If ever question you again,
I

abandon me; for then should deserve it."

I

——~~—
'
. —
,
I

Then they came to a city and

asked for food, but were
refused. Seeing a wall that
was crumbling, al-Khidr
repaired it, but Musa "V
objected to his doing so
without payment.

JU /
"Now we must part," said al-Khidr."But first I will explain my
actions which seemed so dreadful to you. damaged the ship
I

because it belonged to some poor fishermen and nearby there

was a king who plundered every vessel."
"As for the youth, he would
only have distressed his
believing parents with his
wickedness and unbelief. We
prayed that their Lord would
replace him with a more
righteous and filial son.
 "The wall belonged to
two orphans, sons of an
honest man in the city.

Beneath it their treasure

lay buried. Your Lord
decreed that they should
*— dig it up when they
grew to manhood. What I

did was not by my will.

That explains what you
could not bear to watch
with patience."
 shows that the highest
All this

Divine wisdom sometimes

appears to bring calamity. Man's
limited knowledge and lack of
foresight cause him to grieve
over seeming tragedies. But the
true believer never flinches at
such times, for he knows that
Find Out More the loving hand of Allah
To know more about the message and meaning of Allah's words,
look up the following parts of the Quran which
the Prophet Musa and al-Khidr.
tell the story of
unceasingly directs humanity
Surah al-Kahf 1 8:60-82
toward the goal of the greatest
Mayhis Salam 'May peace be upon him.' good. This is the lesson of the
The customary blessing on the prophets.
story of al-Khidr.
The Pious Man
And His Sous
The Prophet Yaqub, or Jacob ^ was a
pious man. He lived in Canaan, some thirty
miles north of Jerusalem. He and his family
lived in tents. He had twelve sons. Yusuf
was the second youngest of them.
 One day, Yusuf had an
unusual dream, in which
eleven stars and the sun
and the moon all bowed
down to him.

1
When his father heard about this
dream, he understood that great things
lay in store for his young and best-
loved son. For their part, being aware of
their father's love for Yusuf $$, the ten
big brothers became so resentful that
they began to hate him.
They would go off to look after the family's flocks, grumbling and
muttering. They became so jealous of their father's love for this younger
brother that they banded together and hatched a plot to kill him.

o
 :V %

One day they took him with them pretending that they
were going out for a picnic. Coming close to a well,
they took him unaware, and seizing him from behind,
they dragged him to the well and threw him down into
it. Yusuf landed on the dry bottom of the well with a
thud. There would be no climbing those slippery sides
to escape. But he was a brave boy, and did not cry. His
courage never failed him. He turned towards his Lord
for help.
While his dear father sorrowed for
him, Yusuf ^ lay at the bottom of
the dark well for about three
nights.
In the meanwhile, a caravan from
Syria heading for Egypt camped
near the well. One of the caravan
people threw his bucket into the
well to fetch some water.
But, to his surprise when he pulled up his bucket,

there was a good looking boy The

clinging to it.

caravan people took him to Egypt and sold him to an

Egyptian prince, who was called the Aziz. The Aziz
took this innocent and good natured boy to his wife
and told her to take good care of him.
 0

way Allah helped him to reach

In this

from an unknown village to the most

advanced city of that time. Thus
Allah helps those who remain
steadfast and follow His path.

Find Out More

To know more about the message and meaning of
Allah's words, look up the following parts of the Quran
jtfuf Alayhis Salam 'May peace be upon hinr
which tell the story of the Prophet Yusuf $s. The customary blessing on the prophets.
Surah Yusuf 1 2:4-56

& BP?
mm
The Prophet Yusuf #
and the Kings Dream
In the last story, The Pious Man and
Sons, we saw how Yusuf ^ was
thrown in a well by his brothers
and
ultimately brought to Egypt, where he
was bought by a noble prince whose
name was Aziz.
After some years, although Yusuf ^
was innocent, Aziz's wife imprisoned
the Prophet Yusuf
Prison opened another chapter in the life

of the Prophet Yusuf Here he met two

prisoners.They were servants in the royal
court, who had displeased the king. Both of
them had strange dreams, the meanings of
which were correctly given by Yusuf
One of them, a cup bearer, was freed and
taken back into the king's service.
One day the king dreamt that seven lean cows were
eating up seven fat ones and seven green ears of corn
were being replaced by seven d^d-nn nnpc
No one was able to say what this unusual dream meant At
that time, at the request of the cup bearer, Yusuf
He explained that in the lands of Egypt there would be seven years
of prosperity. But following these seven years of abundance, there
would come seven years of dreadful famine.
The king and then he
greatly liked his explanation. There
appointed Yusuf $$ to look after the granaries and made him
responsible for providing enough grain to meet all needs
during the foretold famine seven years later. Yusuf $$ had
become the most trusted minister of the King of Egypt.
The seven good years passed and then, as foretold by Yusuf
Jui, there came the seven lean and hungry years, when no

crops would grow and famine held the land in its grip. Back
in the land of Canaan, Yaqub $Z\ and his sons were hit by

the famine too. Therefore, the ten sons travelled to Egypt in

search of grain.
N
When they came to the chief of the storehouses in Egypt, Yusuf
recognized them. However, they did not realize that this minister, from
whom they had come to seek provisions, was their own brother
 Yusuf them received
honourably, and asked them
about their family. Yusuf ^ gave
them an ample supply of grain
and put their money back in

their packs.

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The brothers made further visits. Ultimately Yusuf revealed his
identity to them and forgave them for their crime. He asked them to

^
bring their aged parents. Finally the family was reunited and Yusuf
embraced his parents and did them honour by making them sit on
the throne, saying: "Welcome to Egypt, in safety if Allah wills!"
 X
Seeing the splendour and high
position of Yusuf |»UW they all fell

prostrate, as a mark of thanksgiving

and awe. "This," Yusuf $$ reminded
his father, "is the meaning of my
The dream that Yusuf had as a boy, of the sun, the moon and the
eleven stars prostrating themselves before him, had at last come true.

*
mJmm

Find Out More

To know more about the message and meaning of Allah's words,
look up the following parts of the Quran which tell the story of
the Prophet Yusuf 5Ui Alayhis Salam 'May peace be upon him.'
r

Surah Yusuf 12:21-100 The customary blessing on the prophets.

The Prophet Hud #
and the Storm
The Prophet Hud was one of the earliest prophets who was sent
by Allah to the people of Ad. According to the commentators of the
Quran, the Prophet Hud 0
was the first person to speak Arabic. He
is buried on a hillockHadramawt, where
in his tomb is still visited,
about 90 miles north of Mukalla in Yemen.

7
The Ad people were
descendants of Iram, one of
the grandsons of the Prophet
Nuh 5UI Along with other
r
•

followers of the Prophet Nuh

their forefathers had
settled in ancient Yemen.
The Ad people were very They were
rich.

known as "the people of the many-columned

city of Iram." At they followed the
first,

religion of the Prophet Nuh But when

they began to prosper, they fell into bad
yvays.Then Allah chose the Prophet Hud $%,
ffgm among themselves to warn theni as a
sincere and trustworthy adviser.
 T' r
u

r ’"V
 The Prophet Hud $$ told them: "Serve Allah, my
people; you have no god but Him. The other
notions you have are all false... My people, say you
are sorry to your Lord and ask Him to forgive you.
He will send you plenty of rain from the sky; He
will add strength to your strength. Do not turn jW'V-r'T
•

I
away from Him with wrongdoing."
\ .
 But the elders of the tribe rejected him,
callinghim a foolish man and a liar. Hud ^
went on to assure them:"0 my people! an^L~ I

t?( § not a simpleton; am a messenger from the

I
i

;
I
Lord of the Worlds. I am
make known His
to !

will and to give you honest counsel. Do you

think it strange that a warning should come

\ to you from your Lord through^ human
being like yourselves?"
But the people of Ad continued to sin. They said:

'Hud, you have given us no clear proof. We will not

forsake our gods just because you say so, nor will we
believe in you." The Prophet Hud ^i continued to
warn them: "You build strong fortresses, hoping that
you may last for ever. When you exercise your power,
Xhey would proudly say: "Who is mightier than
us?" And puffed up with pride and the feeling
that they were greater than everyone else, they
went on denying the word of Allah.
As a result, Allah willed that a terrible

drought befall the land. Plants and trees

withered and died and the animals had no
water to drink. Many months went by and
They then had to suffer a three year famine,
but they paid no heed. Even when Allah
still

sent His torment in the form of a black cl

all they said was/Here is a passing cloud

will give us rain/

V\
—

-
 Finally, a terrible blast of wind destroyed the wrongdoers
and their land, and when morning came, there was
nothing to be seen but their ruined houses. And so a
howling and violent gale which Allah let loose on them for
seven nights and eight days in a row destroyed them as
though they had been the hollow trunks of palm-trees.

5^
-'
/ • ///

v . - .

118
.
 The lesson of the story is that one should not
lose one's humility if one becomes successful.
One should give all the credit for one's feats to
the blessings of Allah. In not doing so, one's

success could be ruined in thesame way as the

great homes of the people of Ad were
destroyed by the great storm sent by Allah.

To know more about the message and meaning of Allah's words, look up the
following parts of the Quran which tell the story of the Prophet Hud
Surah al-Araf 7:65-72
Surah Hud 11:50-60
Surah ash-Shuara 26:123-140 Alayhis Salam 'May peace be upon him.'
Surah al-Ahqaf 46:21-25 The 'customary blessing on the prophets.
 The Most
Patient Mail
 TUKKL

MLDITZKKANLAN SLA

ALELM
 The Prophet Ayyub, or Job
a great prophet who lived in
the ninth century B.C. in
Haran near Damascus in Syria,
set great examples for
mankind.

ARABIA
Besides having great wisdom and compassion,
Ayyub was also a very rich man.
 • 7TC

He had huge herds of cattle, vast fields, a large family

and many friends. Yet, he remained an extremely
steadfast and sincere servant of Allah, and was forever
calling upon others to worship Him.
 I M WESk * •’
of A'kf met ;m

But Satan made people think

that was only because
it

Ayyub ^
was wealthy that
he lived a good life, and that
if his blessings were taken

away, he would no longer be

grateful to Allah.
 I

To put him to the test, Allah struck

him with a series of calamities. His
cattleand crops were destroyed, his
children died and, worst of all, he
became very ill, remaining
bedridden for many years.
 w-

If
Within a very short period of time, Ayyub
became very poor and his friends left
f him one by one. But Ayyub was not
angry. He put his entire trust in Allah,
being confident that Allah knew best
about everything.
m IP
*
 “I am
overcome by
distress. But You
are the Most
Merciful of all

those that are

merciful/’
When and loneliness worsened and his sickness
his suffering
and pain became unbearable, Ayyub turned to Allah in
humble prayer, crying: "I am overcome by distress. But You are
the Most Merciful of all those that are merciful."
mm.
Allah heard his beautiful
prayer,and put an end to his
long and terrible hardship. He
Ayyub
'
to strike the
his feet.
No sooner did Ayyub take a bath in it,

than his illness was cured and he reg

his former health and strength.-
1 ,

A
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111 1

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Because Ayyub ^
had showed great patience throughout
the worst of disasters, Allah not only rewarded him with
great bounty in the Hereafter but redoubled his fprmer
prosperity in this world. He had a new family'of seven sons
and three daughters. He lived to the rfpe old age^of 93 and
saw four generations. He became so rich fhat it was said
that "he was rained upon with locusts of golcf." ^

Find Out More

To know more about the message and
meaning of Allah's words, look up the
following parts of the Quran which tell

the story of the Prophet Ayyub (Job).

Surah Sad 38:41-44
Surah al-Anbiya 21:83-84

Jftjf Alayhis Salam 'May peace be upon him.'

The customary blessing on the prophets.

The Iron Wall
Long long ago, during the sixth century
B.C. there was a magnificent king whose

name was Dhul Qarnayn.

a
 Caucasus
Mountain
Turkey range

Mediterranean
~ ' Sea

Arabia
 Caspian
Sea

He made military conquests from

the Aegean Sea to the Indus
River. His sway extended over
Iran
He was just and righteous, protecting the
weak and punishing the law-breakers.
When Dhul Qarnayn took his armies to the
north-east of Iran, he reached the Caucasus
mountain range which runs between the
Caspian and the Black Seas.
On these journeys he met different tribes in

different places. Once he met whose

a tribe
members were hardly able to communicate
with him. Once, in that region, he met a tribe
who begged him to protect them from the
wild tribes, the Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and
Magog) who kept coming through the
mountain passes, and attacking them.

47
Dhul Qarnayn said, "Lend me body of men,
a
and I will raise a wall between you and
them. Come, bring me blocks of iron."

9 & . f
He told them to ply their bellows
and when the iron blocks which
they brought became red hot, Dhul
Qarnayn asked them to pour molten
brass on them.
In this way he helped in damming up the
valleybetween the two mountains. In this
way, Dhul Qarnayn erected an Iron Wall to
save them from Yajuj and Majuj.
After conquering a major part of the then
inhabited world and building an iron wall,
Dhul Qarnayn lost none of his humility.
He gave the entire credit for these feats to the blessing of
Allah. Of the iron wall he had built, he said:
"This is a blessing from my Lord. But when the promise of my
Lord will come to pass, He will make it to dust. And the promise
of my Lord is true."

Find Out More

To know more about the message and meaning of Allah's words,
look up the following parts of the Quran which tell the story of
the King Dhul Qarnayn.
Surah al-Kahf
The Old Mans
Prayer
The Prophet Zakariyya was a noble
man. He was an uncle of Maryam (Mary),
and the priest of the shrine in Jerusalem
When Maryam was given to the service
of Allah, the Prophet Zakariyya was
made Maryam's guardian.
Whenever the Prophet
Zakariyya £§jf visited
Maryam in her niche
(mihrab) in the shrine, he
would find that she had
fresh food.
He would be amazed at this and
would ask Maryam where this food
came from. "This is from Allah,"
Maryam would answer. "Allah gives
in plenty to whoever He pleases."
When the Prophet Zakariyya $$ reached old age
and was still childless, he prayed to Allah for a son:
"My bones are weak and my head is shining with
grey hair. Yet, my Lord! I have never been
disappointed in praying to You."
Allah heard his beautiful
prayers and said,

"Zakariyya! We bring you

good news of a son whose
name will be Yahya"
But Zakariyya $1 wondered: "My Lord! How
shallIhave a son when my wife is barren, and I

am now very old?"

But Allah said: "So it shall be. It is easy for
Me, for I created you, before which you
were nothing."
Zakariyya said:"0 my Lord! Give me a
sign!" Allah said, "Your sign is that you shall
not speak to anyone for three nights,
though otherwise in good health."
The Prophet Zakariyya $$ was filled with joy and
words of thanks came pouring from his lips. He
came out of the shrine and exhorted his people
to praise the Lord morning and evening.
‘iwgr
And so in his old age the Prophet
Zakariyya's prayers were answered and
he had a son whose name was Yahya
(John) *£k.

PS&ff&i&r.
 Yahya grew up to be a loving soul.
Allah gave him wisdom, grace and

, purity while yet a child and made

him a prophet.
Yahya grew up to be a
good man, honouring his
father and mother. He neither
too much of him
disobey Allah.
This story reminds us that Allah helps To know more about the message and meaning of
Allah's words, look up the following parts of the Quran

the believers wonderful ways. He

in which tell the story of the Prophet Zakariyya.
Surah Maryam 19:2-15

hears the prayers of His servants, even

JSui Alayhis Salam 'May peace be upon him/
if what they want seems impossible. The customary blessing on the prophets.
Luqman's Advice
to His Son
Long long ago, there lived a wise man
whose name was Luqman. He was probably
the grandson of a sister or an aunt of the
Allah gave him wisdom and
asked him to be thankful to the
Almighty, saying: "He that gives
thanks to Allah has much to gain,
but if anyone denies Allah's
favours, then Allah is self-

sufficient and glorious."

\ S
‘
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aw
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One day Luqman called his son and gave him some
wise counsel. He said/'O my little son, serve no other
deity besides Allah; for idolatry is an abominable sin."
Luqman said, "My son, Allah
will bring all things to light,

be they small as a grain of

mustard seed, be they
hidden inside a rock or in
heaven or earth. Gracious is
Allah and all-knowing."
Luqman also advised him to
speak out for justice and
forbid evil. up patiently
"Put
with whatever happens to
you" continued Luqman,
"that is a duty for all."

I
Luqman also told his
son:"Do not walk
proudly on the earth
iMfcl
"God does not love the arrogant and the boastful." said
Luqman. "Rather let your walk be modest."
The last advice which Luqman gave to his son
was to be polite: "Keep your voice low. The
harshest of voices is the braying of the ass."
Luqman's wise
advice to his son is

for all of us to follow

so that we may
become good
human beings.

Find Out More

To know more about the message and
meaning of Allah's words, look up the
following parts of the Quran which tell

the story of Luqman.

Surah Luqman 31:12-19
Uzayr s Donkey
Uzayr, or Ezra, was a pious man. He had
donkey on which
a
he used to travel far and wide. Once he was passing through
a lonely city. The houses were all in ruins and no one lived there.
"How can Allah give life to this city, now that it is dead,"
wondered Uzayr.
There and then Allah caused him
and his donkey to die.
Allah brought Uzayr back to life

after100 years! But the donkey

on which he had been travelling
was reduced to bones.
Allah reunited the bones,
clothed them with flesh and
gave life to the donkey.
"How long have you stayed
away?" asked Allah. "A day or part
of a day," replied a puzzled Uzayr.
"Know, then," said Allah, "that you
have stayed away 100 years."
But he was amazed
to see that his food
and drink was intact
and fresh.
Seeing all this
happening in front of his
own eyes, Uzayr was struck
dumb and exclaimed: know "I that
Allah has power over all things." The
story is told to reaffirm belief in the
Hereafter and life after death.
The Light of Allah
"His light may be compared to a
niche that enshrines a lamp...

225
"...the lamp within a crystal
of star-like brilliance.
"It is kindled from a
Blessed Tree...
"...an Olive that is neither
of the East nor of the
West...
"Whose would almost shine forth,
oil

even before the fire touched it.

*- JJS |J&jj
"Light upon light;

Allah guides to His light

whom He will.
"His light found in shrines
is

which Allah has had built so

that His name may be
remembered.

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"In them, morning and evening, His

praise is sung by men whom neither
trade nor profit can divert from
remembering Him... "The Light in this

story denotes Allah's guidance, the

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niche the heart of a believer, the lamp

sincerity of faith, and the glass and oil

further strength of faith.

The story suggests that Allah
has endowed every human
heart with the capacity for true
faith in its purest form. The
moment the Truth is brought
closer to the believer,
he or she will not
hesitate to accept it.

Find Out More

To know more about the message and
meaning of Allah's words, look up the
following parts of the Quran.
Surah al-Nur 24:35-37
Where to find 5 The Story of Two Gardens Surah al-Kahf 18:32-42

the stories
29 Allah Speaks to the Prophet Musa Surah Ta Ha 20:38-40, Surah al-Qasas 28:7-35
in the Quran

47 The Wise Man and the Prophet Musa sS Surah al-Kahf 1 8:60-82

65 The Pious Man and His Son Surah Yusuf 12:4-56

79 The Prophet Yusuf $$ and the King's Dream Surah Yusuf 1 2:21-1 00

99 The Prophet Hud ^ and the Storm Surah al-Araf 7:65-72, Surah Hud 1 1 :50-60,
Surah ash-Shuara 26:1 23-1 40, Surah al-Ahqaf 46:21-25

121 The Most Patient Man Surah Sad 38:41 -44, Surah al-Anbiya 21 :83-84

137 The Iron Wall Surah al-Kahf 18:83-98

157 The Old Man's Prayer Surah Maryann 19:2-15

181 Luqman's Advice to His Son Surah Luqman 31 :1

203 Uzayr's Donkey Surah al-Baqarah 2:259

219 The Light of Allah Surah al-Nur 24:35-37

ISLAMIC BOARD
GAMES AND PUZZLES
A Fun Way to Learn About the Quran

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