There was once a hunter who spread out his nets in the jungle to capture wild pigeons. He camouflaged them well and laid a trap by spreading plenty of seed over them. A flock of extremely hungry pigeons flew over the area. Seeing the seeds they were greatly tempted to swoop down and start feasting.
Amongst them there was a wise and perceptive pigeon who observed that there were a great many seeds lying together in this manner, and this seemed suspicious. Surely there was a sinister reason behind this. The pigeon cautioned all the others against landing there. All the birds were too hungry to pay heed to him and they all went down together. The wise one went along with everyone.
The moment they landed the nets entrapped them. They all struggled fervently, but to no avail. They could not free themselves. “What has befallen us”, they wailed. Finally, they remembered the wise pigeon’s advice not to land here.
They turned to him and beseeched, “What shall we do now O wise one, you are the only one who can save us.”
“There is but one way” he replied. “Let us all flap our wings and fly up together, all at once. This way the net will also fly up with us.”
They readily accepted this clever solution and all of them collectively applied their strength. Together, they all soared up, taking the net with them. They flew away and landed at a safe place. Here they were met by a turtle who was a friend of the wise pigeon. Upon seeing him in this state the turtle came forth to help free his friend from the net. The wise one said, “O friend, help free my companions first. You may get tired in your efforts in rescuing me, then what will befall my comrades!”
The turtle started cutting through the net and set them all free. The pigeons were all saved from their dire difficulty by the intelligent advice and compassion of the wise pigeon.
In this manner, the razaa mubarak and raai mubarak of our Hudaat Kiraam AS are pearls of hikmat and wisdom, and through them we will collectively free ourselves from the peril of this world and reach the shores of safety and salvation in the Hereafter. Occasionally, blinded by worldly desires we may not recognize the wisdom of their words. But, sure as day, their words will benefit us in this world and the next.
