Mr Himaar, Mr Berok and The Two Offers

"Pro parare in posterum!" Chihuhua exlaimed. "Oh no!" the birds put their palms on their foreheads, "Again, he rattled in Latin!" they moaned. "O my brothers and sisters! Youth and manhood, are the times of lift; which we should employ and bestow inlaying in such a stock of all kinds of necessaries, as may suffice for the craving demands of helpless old age. Summer is the season of the year, in which the industrious and laborious husbandman, gathers and lays up such fruits as may supply his necessities in winter.

Yet, notwithstanding the truth of this, there are many of those, which we call rational creatures, who live in a method quite opposite to it, and make it their business to squander away, in a profuse prodigality, whatever they get in their younger days—as if the infirmity of age would require no supplies to support it—or, at least, would find them administered to it in some miraculous way.

I have a story to tell, so, lend me your ears,

"One day, Simba, the Lion King, requirred his envoy to go to the border, meeting two emissaries, Mr Bee dan Mr Fly. There were answers about the Jungle King's applications, from the Bee and the Flies Empires, to undertake vital projects in the Jungle Kingdom, in all fields, including roads, bridges, bus stations, railway stations, mining, and every government and private projects.

The King had decided, sending Mr. Himaar, the donkey, and Mr. Berok, the short-tailed monkey. Simba realized, although Mr. Himaar had been educated and enlightened, his natural instincts, foolishness, were still hiding in his soul. So, to accompany the donkey, he send Mr Berok, as counterpart, to share, to discuss and to remind each other. The King was also aware of the gluttonous nature, hiding in Mr Berok's soul, even though he had also been educated and enlightened. But anyway, it was their opportunity, to show who they were.

On the way, Mr. Beruk, who was on Mr. Himaar's back, asked, "Aren't you tired carrying me?" "Nope!" said Mr. Himaar. "I'm used to it. But, will you tell me a story, yet our journey isn't boring?" "About what?" Mr. Berok asked. "Anything!" Mr Himaar answered. "Ok, listen to this!" Mr Berok replied with a smile.

'In the winter season, a commonwealth of Ants was busily employed in the management and preservation of their corn—which they exposed to the air in heaps round about the avenues of their little country habitation.

A Grasshopper, who had chanced to outlive the summer, and was ready to starve with cold and hunger, approached them with great humility, and begged that they would relieve his necessity, with one grain of wheat or rye. One of the Ants asked him, how he had disposed of his time in summer, that he had not taken pains, and laid in a stock, as they had done?

'Alas, gentlemen!' says he, 'I passed away the time merrily and pleasantly, in drinking, singing, and dancing, and never ones thought of winter.'

'If that be the case,' replied the Ant, laughing, 'All I have to say is, that they who drink, sing, and dance in the summer, must starve in winter!'

"Ha ha ha!" Mr Himaar laughed, "Do you understand my story?" Mr Berok curioused. "Nope, but I will, insha Allah!" Mr Himaar promised. "Good for you!" Mr Berok responded.

They arrived at the Bees' camp, the atmosphere, comfortable, clean and well-organized. A worker greeted them, warmly, then escorted them to the emissary. They entered in cool, wide room, where Mr Bee was waiting and greeted them. A few moments later, Mr. Bee explained, "O my brothers! Allah has commanded my nation, the Bees, to choose a place for our home. Both queen and workers are the heart of the hive. They are responsible for finding and building the hive, which makes sense why Allah would be using a female imperative verb—a kind of Moral Hazard—in His particular verses in the Quran.

The bee collects the nectar and pollen from various flowers and forms the honey within its body. They then regurgitate the honey into wax cells they made. There are different kinds of food that come from honey, and it comes in a variety of colors. This bee food can range from the regular light brown honey, we all know and love, to a deep dark color, or even a very light white hue. With a variety of color, taste and flavor also vary depending on the plant source and weather. That's how we work.

When talking about medicinal benefits, honey is known to be a natural healing supplement. This has been documented in various scriptures dating back to 5,000 years ago. Ancient civilizations used honey to treat internal and external ailments such as ulcers, wounds, and other diseases. Even Hippocrates, the father of medicine, has used honey to treat his patients. Today, we are able to determine the healing benefits of honey by studying its antibacterial activity, enzymes, and chemical build-up.

If you cooperate with us, then we will bring benefits for you. There would be abundant benefits you will gain. We would influence you to gain knowledge and reflect. As we understand, the color and flavor of the honey we make, differ depending on the source of nectar. Nectar from the nicest flowers or fruit-bearing plants. We also have the ability to create “Royal Jelly” that is specifically fed to the queen and her growing larvae. So, you would not be able to decipher our behavior, without putting effort into learning about them and doing our part in the research. Thus, influencing us to learn more and reflect on our traits and characteristics.

We will motivate you to work well with others. Most bee species live in colonies, and we would need the participation of each and every member to be a well-functioning hive. Female worker bees take the time to go out of the hive and find food. By the time we get back to the hive, instead of placing the collected nectar in the individual cell, we opt to pass the nectar by regurgitating it to our co-worker. This process, goes on until the nectar turns into honey and reaches the cell of the honeycomb. We then fan it with our wings until it becomes stickier, by the time it is ready, we seal the cell with a wax lid to keep it clean. The colony works as a team, and each member is given a role, evenly, not because he is a queen's supporter. 

We will show you, how to thrive through obeying Allah. We, the bees, follow the foundation set-forth by Allah to achieve eternity in paradise. By following Allah’s word, and doing good we are promised eternal life with Him. We also pledge our loyalty to our Queen, in the meaning of, once we are part of a certain hive and colony, we dedicate our lives to the betterment of the colony itself, not for the Queen. We, in fact, willingly sacrifice our lives for the benefit of the colony.

We will teach you, to be pure. We only collect the nectar of fresh flowers that have not been touched by other bees. Thus, making the nectar we get from a pure source. The purity is guaranteed by Allah Himself; it is our duty to keep it that way.

We will help you, to become efficient. The term “busy bee” has been used often to describe the very prominent trait of the bee. This figure of speech is often used to describe people who are hardworking. Bees are quite efficient, we work smart, and we work hard, not jut work, work and work. A single beehive can have thousands of bees all working together to provide food, shelter, and protection to our queen and the rest of the colony. We travel over 50,000 miles and visit at least a million flowers just to make a jar of honey.

We work in a structure and follow a specific pattern or schedule. This is what you need to apply in your daily life. It’s not just about working hard. It’s about making the most of our time and resources and working efficiently rather than waste time with mediocre work. Schedule your day well, list the things you need to accomplish within the day, and do not forget to add the responsibilities of obeying Allah in your list.

We provide you with relationship advice. Who would have thought that you can get relationship advice from a bee? But amazingly, most bees, especially those living in a colony, have excellent relationships with different species. Bees are not greedy and do not intend to harm any other creature. In fact, the only time a bee would even sting a human is if it felt extremely threatened for his life, not because of his throne.

Bees live in a symbiotic relationship with plants, we take nectar, but in return we pollinate. This allows the plant species to thrive. After all, we are able to efficiently reproduce this way. In reality, we must be more like bees, whether it is to our family members, our spouses, or people in the community. Allah is not asking people to be completely selfless, but to know when to give back and not to be greedy. Treat everyone around you with kindness, and be considerate of others with whatever you do. It does not take much to just be a good person, after all.

We will influence you, to care for your community. The hive is a well-organized community. As we have established, the colony functions well, because the bees play the right roles and are responsible for each other. The queen lays the eggs, the worker bees clean the hive and make the honey, and the drones protect the hive. In Surat An-Nahl (16), verses 68-69, Allah taught the bees to dance in order to show fellow bees the location of the flowers in order for them to follow. In retrospect, a honeybee cannot exist on its own. They would need to be with other bees in order to thrive.

We need to be able to take responsibility and work well with other people in our community to live in harmony within a society. As simple as it sounds, this is not as easy in the dog eat dog world we live in. People are constantly in pursuit of wealth which makes them selfish. We see this every day, how large companies exploit lowly employees, how siblings enter rivalry with one another, and how politicians are consumed by greed. We must do our part and resist from being influenced by these ideals, and learn to share in blessing, look out for others, and be helpful to fellow believers.

And finally, we also invite to protect the environment, because we will not destroy the place where we alight."

Mr Bee closed the presentation with a salaam, and after a little conversation, the two envoys, withdrew, because on the same day, they had to meet Mr Fly.

In the Flies' basecamp, the situation was reversed. You knew what kind of the flies' environment, right? So, in short, Mr Fly said, "We won't say much, but we'll get straight to the point. About us, you already know a lot. Likewise, how we work. You don't have to be busy preparing anything. We will providing the raw material for each project. Also the labor, we will bring it from our land. So, you don't have to bother. By the way, because we don't speak Swahili, your language, so, you must learn our language. Furthermore, there will be bonuses for those who vote on our offer. If the price we offer is not satisfactory, we can talk about it later at lunch. You know, there's no free lunch, but for this time, will be my treat. If you are not satisfied, we can take it from the dust bin. We can work it out!" The two envoys stuttered a bit, but then, they calmed down and withdrew.

It was late, so the two had to stay at a renting stable. After resting, Mr. Himaar asked, "Do you speak Swahili?" Mr Berok answered, "No, but, isn't there an International language? Then, why require to use your own language when communicating with other nations? Just like you and I, both of us speak in international language for easy communication between species."

"I wonder. why Mr Fly didn't explain in detail like Mr Bee has? Wold you like to tell me about the flies, houseflies would be enough!" asked Mr Himaar. "Houseflies are rulers of the insect-scavenging world!" said Mr Belok. "The fly slurps its food with in a spongy mouth. Though flies appear to have only one pair of wings, closer inspection reveals the presence of tiny, secondary wings, called halters, located below the main pair. Houseflies flap their halters at high speeds during flight, using them to maintain balance in the air. If one halter is removed, the insect can only fly in circles. Without either halter, the fly can't take to the air at all. And then there are the legs, which the fly uses to taste everything it lands on.

Houseflies can't bite or chew -- they simply don't have the proper equipment. So if forced to contend with something more solid, like a grain of sugar or dried blood, houseflies must employ a different tactic. First, the housefly scrubs the dry food substance with the bristles on the end of its proboscis. This frees up food particles, if they're not already loose and crumbly.

The second step can be compared to what happens when you add hot water to instant oatmeal—only instead of hot water, the housefly adds a mixture of saliva and digestive juices. The fly vomits saliva and digestive material onto its meal, and after a few seconds, pass for the juices to break down the food, the fly sucks everything back up.

The fly isn't adding anything to its food that we don't add to ours. The difference is, our teeth and jaws allow us to break down organic matter enough so it can mix with our stomach's digestive juices. The housefly is doing the same thing, just on the outside of its body. If the vomit can't adequately break down food enough for it to pass through a tube leading into the stomach, the fly sends this food down a different tube to an inner sack called the crop. The fly may pass the bubble of dissolving food multiple times between crop and mouth, regularly applying fresh saliva. Eventually, the liquefied meal will be ready to send down to the stomach. It sounds unhygienic.

Not only do potentially deadly germs cling to the very legs a housefly might use to walk on—and taste—your sandwich, if it chooses to feed, it may wind up regurgitating portions of a previous meal as well. This only multiplies the risk of disease, which is why you should keep houseflies away from food.

All this flying and eating, has a purpose; the same purpose as with any animal. These insects, seek to reproduce and send another generation out into the world.

Germ-carrying houseflies come into our homes uninvited and begin walking, feeding, vomiting and laying eggs all over our personal belongings. They bring the risk of disease and, in return, we do our best to wipe out any unwelcome visitor. The essential weapon in any war against houseflies is, simply keeping your home clean. In doing so, you'll limit the places they can feed or breed. Don't leave uncovered food out, and keep all trash in sealed containers. Likewise, keep the area outside your home clear of uncovered trash, manure and decaying organic matter.

One of the key ways to cut down on the housefly problem is, simply to prevent adult flies from entering your home. Keep doors, windows and vents closed, and use screens to let in fresh air."

"Now, I'm starting to understand about flies. Come on, let's sleep, tomorrow morning we have to go home!" Mr. Himaar urged as he lay down on the straw. But he was anxious, "If Simba refuses both offers, and asked for our opinion, is there any other alternative?" "Don't worry!" said Mr. Berok. "We can offer it to the Commonwealth of Ants!" 

The next morning, on the way back home, Mr Himaar asked, "About the flies, is it mentioned in the Quran?" Mr Berok replied, "Allah says in the Quran,

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ضُرِبَ مَثَلٌ فَٱسْتَمِعُوا۟ لَهُۥٓ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ لَن يَخْلُقُوا۟ ذُبَابًا وَلَوِ ٱجْتَمَعُوا۟ لَهُۥ ۖ وَإِن يَسْلُبْهُمُ ٱلذُّبَابُ شَيْـًٔا لَّا يَسْتَنقِذُوهُ مِنْهُ ۚ ضَعُفَ ٱلطَّالِبُ وَٱلْمَطْلُوبُ

"O people, a parable is set forth: pay heed to it. Those who call upon aught other than Allah shall never be able to create even a fly, even if all of them were to come together to do that. And if the fly were to snatch away anything from them, they would not be able to recover that from it. Powerless is the supplicant; and powerless is he to whom he supplicates." [QS. Al-Hajj (22):73]

He commented, "Have you not noticed that the Mushriks are no different but annoying flies?" "Gee! Now I really understand about your story. O Mr Berok, let's sing a song, please!" "About what?" Mr Berok responded. "Anything but flies, I'd prefer the Ginseng's."

Then Mr Himaar and Mr Berok, happily singing,

멈춘 시간 속 잠든 너를 찾아가

[I'm looking for you, sleeping in the stopped time]

아무리 막아도 결국 너의 곁인 걸

[No matter the obstacles, in the end, I'll be by your side]

길고 긴 여행을 끝내 이젠 돌아가

[After a long, long journey, now I'm going back]

너라는 집으로 지금 다시

[back to your home]

Way back home! *)

Chihua concluded, "My brothers and sisters! Never to lose any present opportunity of providing against the future, evils and accidents of life. While health, and the flower and vigour of our age, remain firm and entire, let us lay them out to the best advantage; that, when the latter days take hold of us, and spoil us of our strength and abilities, we may have a store moderately sufficient to subsist upon, especially for the future generations, which we laid up in the morning of our age.

Take advantage of five blessings before deprived, as our beloved (ﷺ) says,

شَبَابَكَ قَبْلَ هَرَمِكَ وَصِحَّتَكَ قَبْلَ سَقَمِكَ وَغِنَاكَ قَبْلَ فَقْرِكَ وَفَرَاغَكَ قَبْلَ شُغُلِكَ وَحَيَاتَكَ قَبْلَ مَوْتِكَ

"Your youth before your old age; your health before your illness; your riches before your poverty; your free time before your work; and your life before your death." [Compiled in Shu’ab al-Imān by Al-Bayhaqi; Sahih according to Al-Albani]

And Allah knows best."

References:
- C. Wittingham, Aesop's Fables with One Hundred and Eleven Emblematical Devices, Carpenter and Sons.

- Richard Playfair, The Mythology and Symbolism of Bees in Islam, Schoolofbees.com
- Robert Lamb, How the Houseflies Work, Howstuffworks.com
- Ibn Qayyim Al-Jayuziyah, Healing with the Medicine of the Prophet (ﷺ), translated by Jalal Abu Al-Rub, Darussalam
*) "Way Back Home" by Shaun

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