One day, a husband angrily told his wife after a heated argument, “I divorce you. You will not return to me except on a dark, ominous day with no light.” The wife went to her parents’ house. Once the husband calmed down, he felt remorse and sought a fatwa to undo what he had done. He first approached the village elder and explained the situation, asking, “What should I do to get her back?”
The elder replied, “Where would we find a day so dark and full of misfortune? May God forgive you, I cannot find a solution. Go to the city; perhaps a wiser scholar can advise you.” The husband returned home and prepared to leave early, but he overslept. He hurried to the city, without saying goodbye to his mother, prayed the noon prayer at the Grand Mosque, and asked a scholar for guidance, but received the same answer as in the village. Dejected, he left the mosque and wandered on foot through the city market.
He sat lost in thought for over an hour in front of a stall selling odds. The booth owner approached him and asked, “What’s wrong, my friend? You’ve been sitting here for an hour, completely lost in thought.” The husband told his story, and the stall owner whispered, “Do you see that man sitting to your right?” He looked up and saw a man lying on the ground in tattered clothes, his hair unkempt and messy. He exclaimed in surprise, “This madman! How can he help me when I’ve consulted the sheikhs and found no solution?” But he thought to himself, “I’ll try him, as I have no other option.”
He approached the man, sat down, and asked him to listen to his story. He then recounted the entire tale. The man then asked, “Did you pray Fajr today?” The husband replied, “No, by God, I woke up after Fajr.” The man asked the husband, “How is your mother today?” The husband replied, “I didn’t see her because she left in a hurry.” The man then asked, “How much of the Quran did you read today?” The husband became frustrated and said, “Man, I told you I was in a rush. I didn’t pray Fajr, I didn’t read any Quran, and I didn’t visit anyone.” The man said, “Go and take your wife. Is there a more wretched and dark day than this, when you haven’t prayed Fajr, haven’t recited the Quran, and haven’t even seen your mother to seek her permission?” The husband was overjoyed and began kissing the man’s head, saying, “You have saved me, Sheikh. Ask for whatever you wish.” The man replied, “I ask only of my Lord and God, you heedless one.” The moral of the story is that guidance and wisdom can come from the most unexpected places. True knowledge resides in the hearts of people, not in the finery of their clothes.
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Nazim al-Qudsi and the Journalist In 1954, members of the Syrian Parliament were surprised to see the Speaker, Nazim Al-Qudsi, sitting among them instead of in the Speaker’s chair. Before anyone could question him, Al-Qudsi opened his briefcase and took out a copy of the newspaper “Al-Ra’i al-Aam,” published in Damascus at the time. He addressed the parliament, saying, “Colleagues, the newspaper ‘Al-Ra’i al-Aam’ has accused me of ordering the construction of a road near a plot of land I own to increase its value. From this moment, I place myself before you as the accused and request the formation of a parliamentary committee, accompanied by a technical committee, to visit the site and examine the validity of this accusation firsthand. If the accusation is proven, I request that my parliamentary immunity be lifted and that I be brought to trial.” A committee was indeed formed, and it visited the site, and returned with a report proving the accusation false. Speaker Al-Qudsi then stood before parliament and said, “I waive my right to file a lawsuit against the esteemed journalist Ahmed Asseh, the editor-in-chief of ‘Al-Ra’i al-Aam’ out of respect for freedom of the press and in appreciation of his concern for the public interest.”
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When a woman outwits a man with her wisdom, A man wishes to marry a woman. On the day of the ceremony, he told her, “I am a man of bad character. I am meticulous, quick to take offense, and slow to forgive.” She looked at him and calmly replied, “Worse than your faults is the woman who would provoke them.”
He smiled and said, “You are the wife I have been searching for.” For ten years, the man lived with her, and they never had a single disagreement. But one day, a quarrel arose. Angrily, he said, “Your fate is in your hands.” She responded with gentle wisdom, “By God, my fate has been in your hands for ten years, and you have preserved it well. I will not lose everything in a moment of anger. The decision is yours.”
