Self Control..

A great true story about Sayedna Ali (one of Al Sa7aba - companions- of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) )...

During a battle, sayyedina Ali, found himself face to face with a kafir (not muslim) who attacked him violently. They were both brave and powerful men, but the kafir was no match for sayyedina Ali, who soon was sitting astride his chest, ready to finish him off.

"I invite you to bear witness that there is no god except Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah," said Ali. "Accept Islam, and your life will be spared."

"Never!" panted the kafir.

Sayyidina Ali lifted his sword and was just about to plunge it into his enemy, when the kafir spat defiantly in his face.

Much to the kafir's surprise, sayyidina Ali immediately jumped away from his enemy and lowered his sword.

"Go away!" said sayyidina Ali, "I cannot kill you now."

"Why did you do that?" asked the kafir."You could have killed me easily."

"I was fighting you purely in the way of Allah," replied Ali, "but when you spat in my face, your insult made me angry and if I had killed you in anger, it would have taken me to the HellFire - so I had no choice but to let you go. To kill someone in anger or out of desire for revenge is not bravery, but the act of a coward."

On hearing this, the kafir was so impressed by sayyidina Ali's sincerity and self-control that he embraced Islam on the spot: "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah," he said, "and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah"

Stay Sharp..

Please, Read this story deeply... I think many of us need it..

Once upon a time a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant, and he got it. The pay was really good and so were the work conditions. For that reason,the woodcutter was determined to do his best.

His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to work. The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees.

"Congratulations," the boss said. "Go on that way!"

Very motivated for the boss' words, the woodcutter try harder the next day,but he only could bring 15 trees. The third day he try even harder, but he only could bring 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees. "I must be losing my strength", the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.

"When was the last time you sharpened your axe?" the boss asked. "Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees."

Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don't take time to sharpen the axe." In today's world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but less happy than ever. Why is that? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay sharp?

There's nothing wrong with activity and hard work. But God doesn't want us to get so busy that we neglect the truly important things in life, like taking time to pray, to read, to be near to our family. We all need time to relax, to think and meditate, to learn and grow.

If we don't take time to sharpen the axe, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness. So start today. Think about the ways by which you could do your job more effectively and add a lot of value to it..

(copied)