I Can and I Will
A dung beetle teaches Shaykh Abul Hajjaaj al-Aqsari a powerful lesson about perseverance and never giving up.
Shaykh Abul Hajjaaj al-Aqsari rahimahullah was a great Shaykh of the 6th century. Once, some people asked him, “Who is your Shaykh?”
Wanting to turn their attention away from mere storytelling and teach them an important lesson, the Shaykh replied, “My Shaykh is a dung beetle!”
The people were surprised and wondered if he was joking. He then explained, “I was awake one cold night when my eyes suddenly fell upon a dung beetle. It was trying to climb a lamp but could not. It would climb a little way and then fall down. I counted how many times it tried, and I counted 700 attempts! Even then, it did not lose courage. The time for Fajr Salah arrived, and I went to the Masjid for Salah. When I returned, I saw that the dung beetle had managed to climb the lamp! So, whatever I learnt, I learnt from this dung beetle.”
The moral of the story is that we should never give up. Our aim in this world is to continuously strive to gain the pleasure of Allah Ta’ala and become His special friends, the Awliya of Allah.
Whenever we intend to do a good deed to please Allah Ta’ala, Shaytaan, who is the enemy of every human being, will try to make us lose courage and give up. We should not allow this to happen. Instead, we should continue trying and remind ourselves, “I can, and Insha Allah, through Allah’s help, I will!”
With the help of Allah Ta’ala, we should keep trying even when something seems difficult or when we fail repeatedly. Just as the dung beetle continued trying until it finally succeeded, we too should remain determined and never lose hope.