Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 147
! ! 147 already Ahmadi , but they did not have the courage to claim it. Now , they saw that if they still did not show courage , they would be depriv ed of blessings. I n this way, this appeal saved eleven women from destruction. T his is only a taste of the first fruit of a scheme , which has saved eleven women from death. There is a famous anecdote which can be applied here. There was once a K ing who passed by an eighty or ninety - year - old man planting a tre e. The tree was of the kind which bears fruit after a very long time. The King questioned the old man on the benefit of this tree , as it would bear fruit after so long. The old man replied, “My forefathers planted trees and I ate their fruit. Now I will plant trees and my descendants will reap the benefit. ” The King replied, “ z e h ,” meaning ‘well said. ’ It was his directive that whoever caused him to say “ zeh ” would receive four thousand rupees. When the King said, “ zeh , ” a bag of four thousand rupees was given to the old man. He took the money in his hand and said, “Your Highness, you had asked when I would eat the fruit of this tree. Other people’s trees bear fruit after a long time , but upon planting mine, it has already borne fruit. ” The King again exclaimed, “ zeh , ” and his treasurer handed another four thousand rupees to the old man. The old man took the second bag, saying , “Your Highness, other people’s trees bear fruit only once every year , but already my tree has borne fruit twice. ” T he King once again replied, “ zeh ” and the old ma n was given a third bag. Finally , the King said that if they didn’t move on, the old man would rob them of all their money! The example of ‘ zeh ’ applies t o the Berlin Mosque as well. Other people’s mosques are built so that their faithful may have a place to say thei r prayers. However, even our appeal to build a mosque co n verts people. It is the fruit of th is tree , which is the manifes t ation of the tree’s own qualities , f or the q uality of a tree is recognized by its fruit. This tree’s fruit demonstrates that it bears great potential. Consider how superior that tree will be in its own t ime. Imagine w hat exceptional fruit it will bear when even upon just being planted; the tree’s roots are immediately doused with the water of faith from eleven individuals? Now , I address this Jama‘ at and their women and the other