Amir Taimur, was someone who was so firm and unfaltering in every predicament, that he did not cower from any misfortune. When the reason for this was sought from him, he said: "Once, having fled from my enemies and seeking refuge in the ruins of a worn down and dilapidated building, I was reflecting over my future when my eyes suddenly fell upon a small and weak Ant, carrying a grain bigger than itself, endeavouring to climb to the top of a wall.

"Looking carefully and counting accurately, I found that the grain had dropped from its clutches sixty seven times before the Ant finally managed to make it to the top of the wall with it. The spectacle of this effort on the part of the Ant infused within me strength of such great magnitude that I am never able to forget it."

"I said to myself: O' Taimur! You are by no means inferior to an Ant. Arise and get back to work. I got up and gathered my resolve till I eventually came to acquire the courage that I now possess."

Moral: Falling down is not defeat...defeat is when you refuse to get up...

A man woke up early in order to pray the Fajr (Morning) prayer in the Masjid (Mosque). He got dressed, made his Wudhu (ablution) and was on his way to the Masjid.

On his way to the Masjid, the man fell and his clothes got dirty. He got up, brushed himself off, and headed back home. At home, he changed his clothes, made his ablution, and was, again, on his way to the Masjid. On his way to the Masjid, he fell again and at the same spot! He, again, got up, brushed himself off and headed home. At home he, once again, changed his clothes, made his ablution and was on his way to the Masjid.

On his way to the Masjid, he met a man holding a lamp. He asked the man of his identity and the man replied "I saw you fall twice on your way to the Masjid, so I brought a lamp so I can light your way." The first man thanked him profoundly and the two were on their way to the Masjid.

Once at the Masjid, the first man asked the man with the lamp to come in and pray Fajr with him. The second man refused. The first man asked him a couple more times and, again, the answer was the same. The first man asked him why he did not wish to come in and pray.

The man replied "I am Shaitan (Satan)." The man was shocked at this reply. Shaitan (Satan) went on to explain, "I saw you on your way to the Masjid and it was I who made you fall. When you went home, cleaned yourself and went back on your way to the Masjid, Allah (SWT) forgave all of your sins. I made you fall a second time, and even that did not encourage you to stay home, but rather, you went back on your way to the Masjid. Because of that, Allah (SWT) forgave all the sins of the people of your household. I was afraid if I made you fall one more time, then Allah (SWT) will forgive the sins of the people of your village, so I made sure that you reached the Masjid safely."

Moral: Do not let Shaitan (Satan) benefit from his actions. Do not put off a good that you intended to do as you never know how much reward you might receive from the hardships you encounter while trying to achieve that good.

Sakkaki was a skilled artist an artisan. With great expertise and interest, he made such a nice and beautiful inkpot that it could be presented to the king. He expected that, appreciating his artistic skill, the king would encourage him as far as possible. So, with countless hopes and thousand of desires, he presented that inkpot to the king. In the beginning the king was very impressed by his artistic skill but afterwards an unpleasant event occurred that caused an extraordinary change in Sakkaki's life and way of thinking.

When the king was observing the skilled artistry of the beautiful inkpot and Sakkaki was lost in the world of thoughts, the people informed that a scholar-literary person or jury is about to enter the court. As soon as the scholar entered, the king got so much absorbed in welcoming and talking to him that he forgot Sakkaki and his skilled artistry. This incident caused an adverse and deep effect on the heart of Sakkaki.

Sakkaki realized that now he would not receive the encouragement he had expected and all his desires and hopes are useless now. But Sakkaki's high spirited mind did not allow him to be in peace, so he started thinking as to what should he do. He decided to do what the others have done and go on the same way that the others have gone (until now). Therefore, he decided to search for his lost hopes in the world of knowledge, literature and books. Although for a wise man who has passed the days of his young age, it was not easy to study with young children and to start right from the preliminary stage. But he did not have a choice. After all whenever the fish is taken out of water, it is fresh.

Worse than that, in the beginning he did not find any sort of interest in himself regarding reading and writing. Perhaps spending a long time in artistic works and handicraft was the reason for stagnancy in his scientific and literary talent. But neither his advanced age nor lack of capability, none of these could change his decision. With great enthusiasm and zeal for attaining knowledge, he strictly got busy with his studies, until another incident occurred:

The teacher who was teaching him Shafi'i jurisprudence (fiqh Shafi'i), taught him this lesson: "The teacher believes that the skin of a dog becomes clean (tahir) after tanning." Sakkaki repeated this sentence a lot of times so that at the time of examination he should be able to succeed. But when he was asked to answer this question, he said: "The dog believes that the skin of a teacher becomes clean after tanning."

The audience upon hearing this answer started laughing. It was clear for everybody that this old man is absolutely incapable of reading and writing. After this incident Sakkaki not only left the school, but he left the town and went towards the jungle. By chance, he reached the foot of a mountain, where he saw that the water is falling drop by drop from the top and due to the continuous falling of water, a hole had been formed in that hard stone. He reflected for sometime, a good idea crossed his mind like lightning. And he said: "Maybe my heart is not ready to accept (knowledge) but it is not harder than this stone. It is impossible that continuous studying with persistence, determination and hard work would be ineffective."

Therefore, he came back and with hard work, he got busy in the attainment of knowledge. As a result he was reckoned as one of the popular scholars of his time.

Imam Ali (a.s.) Says: "Books are the gardens of learned." and "The man of learning is alive even after his death. The man of ignorance is dead even while he is alive."

One day I decided to quit...I quit my job, my relationship, my Spirituality...I wanted to quit my life.

I went to the woods to have one last talk with God. God, I said. Can you give me one good reason not to quit His answer surprised me...

Look around, God said. Do you see the fern and the bamboo? Yes, I replied.

When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed.

But I did not quit on the bamboo. In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.

God said, in the third year there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit. In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. I would not quit.

God said, and then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant...But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent the five years growing roots.

Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle.

God said to me, did you know, my creation, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots. I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you.

Don't compare yourself to others. God said, the bamboo had a different purpose than the fern. Yet they both make the forest beautiful. Your time will come, God said to me. You will rise high.

I left the forest and bring back this story. I hope these words can help you see that God will never give up on you. God will never give up on you!

Moral: In life never lose hope and never give up or quit in life and Success will come to you later in life.

In 1867, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told John Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before.

John Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington Roebling, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.

Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.

The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington Roebling was injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to walk or talk or even move.

"We told them so. Crazy men and their crazy dreams. It's foolish to chase wild visions."

Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the John Roebling were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap Washington Roebling was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever.

Washington Roebling tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task. As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment.

It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife Emily.

Washington Roebling touched his wife's arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.

For 13 years Washington Roebling tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife's arm, until the bridge was finally completed in 1883. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man's indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband Washington Roebling and told the engineers what to do.

Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.

Often when we face obstacles in our day-to-day life, our hurdles seem very small in comparison to what many others have to face. The Brooklyn Bridge shows us that dreams that seem impossible can be realized with determination and persistence, no matter what the odds are.

Even the most distant dream can be realized with persistence and determination.