The true essence of love – when we want something as good or better than we wish for ourselves.

TWO PEAS IN A POD
Two brothers were orphaned when they were youngsters. They were farmers and worked together on their family farm. Years later the elder brother married and had a family with two children. The other remained single.

SHARING UP THE DIDLUM CLUB
Working hard together, they shared the fruits of their labour equally.

THINK BEFORE ACTING
One day, the single brother was working alone in the fields. A thought crossed his mind: “We share everything equally. This is not right because I have simple needs as I’m single. My brother’s family is big so he needs more.”

THE RIGHT THING TO DO
So he took a sack full of grain and quietly placed this sack in his brother’s barn.

He did this every night.

GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE
At around the same time, the elder brother starting thinking to himself:

“We share everything equally but this is not right. I’m married with a wife and children to take care of me in the future.”

IT IS MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN TO RECEIVE
Each night he took a sack of grain and put it into his brother’s barn quietly.

HARVESTING GOOD
Every night both men placed grain in each other’s barn.

LOVE IN ACTION
This went on for years and both men were puzzled because the grain never diminished.

BUMPING INTO EACH OTHER
One night as both were about to put grain into the other’s barn – they bumped into each other literally.

GOBSMACKED
Dropping their bags, they hugged each other and cried with tears of happiness.

LESSON OF THE STORY
Love for your family what you love for yourself.

BLESSING OF ALLAH
May Allah allow us to incorporate this loving, caring quality into our lives and keep us away from sin such as jealously. Aameen.

THE LEOPARD WEISS LESSON
One day Austrian Jewish journalist Leopold Weiss was travelling by train and he observed co-passengers who were wearing the trappings of wealth. However their faces seemed to be gloomy and furrowed with worry. He could not work out why this may be so but sometime later he was reading an English translation of the Quran. He came across the following: Competition in worldly increase distracts you. (Chapter 102 of the Quran). These two brothers certainly knew that brotherly love was more important than amassing wealth even though it was arguable that a 50/50 split was fair.

Author's Bio: 

We are our spirit, our passion and our religion. Every day I hope to draw closer to what is the real essence of life - to be a better person - kinder, nicer, more patient and caring. An I CAN READ English specialist with over 20 years teaching experience, I have worked in the British Council and Linguaphone, well-known language institutions. I am a London-trained lawyer and have been the public affairs officer at the British High Commission, Singapore, as well as an editor in an international book publishing house and a national magazine. In 2006, I was appointed as an Ambassador of Peace (Universal Peace Federation and Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace). I am also co-author of two law books: English Legal System and Company Law, published by Blackstone, Oxford University Press. For enquiries about I CAN READ classes, email susanmckenzie2003@yahoo.co.uk. FOR BLESSINGS: www.abetoday.com