SURELY I am dreaming. I find myself in the middle of a barren land looking for shelter but in every direction the land appears to be lifeless. I am tired and scared. Suddenly there appears a huge tree that provides me shelter, a cool shadow and drops of water to quench my thirst. Before I can feel the hunger a fruit falls from the tree and the moment I eat it I become very energetic. I start living under this magical tree and find my family with me. The tree grows every day with the number of fruits increasing according to the number of my family members. We are living happily.

The number of my children grows fast; they get married and have children, my clan keeps growing. Interestingly, the number of fruits also keep increasing. One day a man walks in and I employ him as a servant. He starts cleaning the area, climbs up the tree, cuts the branches and the tree becomes more dense. That man brings in other men to help him and the entire area is now well maintained. My children and grandchildren happily play under the cool shadow of the tree and enjoy its delicious fruit. They grow fat and need more than one fruit to satisfy their hunger. They decide to give the workers only half a fruit each and take the rest for themselves. The workers have to satisfy themselves with only a half.

Then the number of people in my clan magically become large, they need a bigger place to live in and more fruit to eat. They push the workers out of the shadow of the tree, some die, some run away but still a few remain to serve them. But these few appear to be too large for my clan because they are sharing the fruit of the magical tree. Many of my children don’t like the situation, so they decide to drive the men away from the magical tree. For a few days everyone is very happy. There is nobody to share the fruit that belongs to us. Then we realize that the litter on the ground is increasing. I ask my children to clean the area but none of them listen to me. We see that the fruit of the tree is also shrinking in size. I ask my children to climb up and trim the branches, but none have learnt the art of climbing and trimming. Then the fruit stops falling because it is not as heavy as it used to be. A time comes when we have to shake the tree to get the fruit to eat. The whole clan uses all its force to shake the tree. Suddenly the tree is uprooted and now there is no shadow, no ripe fruit to eat, no water droplets to quench our thirst. We run frantically here and there to find another magical tree but in vain. There is nothing over our heads, the Sun looks very close to us, and the scorching heat is killing us. I get tired of running and fall down. A sound comes to my ears: “Why have I not taught my children any skills to protect the magical tree.” The sound becomes louder, louder and louder. “Have I not told you to teach your children the dignity of labor…” it rings in my ears.

Now I am fully awake and remember what Allah says in the Holy Quran, “And that man will have nothing but what he strives for.” (S53:39).