Ali Ataie – Your Kingdom on Earth is Not Worth More Than a Cup of Water

			There was a certain king who had it
		

			all except
		

			gratitude, so he was discontent.
		

			1 of my teachers told this this parable.
		

			He said this certain king, he had it
		

			all, but he didn't have gratitude. And he
		

			would go on walks outside of his,
		

			outside of his castle, in the woods outside
		

			of his castle, and he noticed a pauper,
		

			a very poor man
		

			next to a tree. And this poor man,
		

			he had a glass of water. He had
		

			some a little crust of bread,
		

			barely any clothes to cover his, but this
		

			pauper, this poor man, he was singing the
		

			praises of Allah
		

			So the king approached him and said, why
		

			are you so happy? You have nothing.
		

			And the man said, why shouldn't I be?
		

			I have it all. I have water. I
		

			have some food. I have clothes that cover
		

			my aura. I have blue skies. The birds
		

			are chirping. I have my health.
		

			I have the zikr of Allah
		

			spinning in my heart and in my tongue.
		

			Why shouldn't I be happy?
		

			And this man was an ariz billah,
		

			this pauper, and he recognized the king. Is
		

			why are you so unhappy? You're the king.
		

			And the king said, I don't know. I
		

			have it all, but I'm unhappy. So the
		

			pauper said to the king, if you were
		

			stranded in the desert
		

			and you were going to die of thirst,
		

			how much of your kingdom would you give
		

			for a half a glass of water?
		

			How much of your kingdom would you give
		

			for half a glass of water? And the
		

			king said, half of my kingdom,
		

			I would give. And the man said to
		

			him, if you drank that water and you
		

			could not excrete it out of your body
		

			and it was going to cause an infection
		

			and kill you, how much of your kingdom
		

			would you give to get rid of that
		

			glass of water from your body. He said
		

			the other half of my kingdom. So the
		

			pauper said your entire kingdom is worth a
		

			glass of water. I have that here. I
		

			also have some bread. I have blue skies.
		

			I have clothes that cover my aura. I
		

			have the birds chirping. I have my health,
		

			and I have the dhikr of Allah
		

			in my heart and spinning on my tongue.
		

			What more can I want?
		

			This parable is obviously meant to be hyperbolic,
		

			but you get the point.
		

			Just be grateful.
		

			Be content. Be in a state of taslim
		

			to the Qadr of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
		

			Because continuous
		

			ingratitude
		

			and an obsession
		

			for earthly justice
		

			is upstream
		

			to discontentment
		

			with Allah's qadr, and that is dangerous.