As King Parveez and Queen Shireen were sitting in
their palace one day, a fisherman who was selling
beautiful fish was brought in front of them.
King Parveez decided to buy a fish and gave the
fisherman 4000 dirham for it. The fisherman was
overjoyed. He thanked King Parveez and left.
Queen Shireen turned to her husband in anger and
scolded him for paying so much for a fish.
King Parveez let her have her say but said that
the fish was purchased and that there was nothing
that could be done about it.
However, the Queen Shireen was adamant and
insisted that the fisherman be brought back.
"We will ask the fisherman about the gender of the fish,"
she said. "If he answers that it is female, we will say that
we wanted a male fish and if his response is that it is male,
we will say that we wanted a female fish! Either way,
we will be able to return the fish and have our money back."
So the poor fisherman was called back and was asked
the question. Fortunately, he was clever enough not to
be caught out. Fisherman replied, "This fish is unique in
the sense that it is neutral i.e., it's neither male nor female."
King Parveez was so impressed by the ingenuity of the man
that he ordered a further 4000 dirham to be paid to him.
The fisherman thanked the King Parveez again but as he
was about to leave with the heavy bag of money, one of
the coins fell onto the floor. The fisherman immediately
bent down to look for the coin. Queen Shireen was
already upset that the fisherman had been given 8000 dirham.
"Look how miserly this man is!" the Queen Shireen exclaimed.
"One coin has fallen out of his bag full of money and he
searches for it instead of leaving it for some other poor
servant to find."
The fisherman heard this remark and said, "O Queen,
it is not out of miserliness that I search for the coin but
rather because it had the picture of generous King Parveez
on it. I would not tolerate anyone to cause dishonour to
the King Parveez by treading on the coin."
King Parveez was so flattered with this response that he
immediately called for another 4000 dirham to be given to
the fisherman. When Queen Shireen saw all this, she thought
it was better to hold her tongue and let the fisherman go
with the 12000 dirham before the King decided to increase
the amount again.
Lessons from Life: Speech is an Art. If one knows what,
when and how to talk then such a person will be successful
in life.
Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) has said, "The beauty of man
is in the clarity of his tongue."
Imam Ali bin Abi Talib (as) has said, "Your tongue is
the translator of your intellect."
Imam Ali bin Abi Talib (as) has said, "The most foolish person
is one, who considers himself the wisest!"
Imam Hossein (as) has said, "Wisdom of a human being will
attain the highest level only by following the truth."
Imam Jafar Sadegh (as) has said, "A wise man will not be
bitten twice by the same snake in a hole!"
Imam Jafar Sadegh (as) has said, "The most knowledgeable
person is one who runs away from ignorant people."
Imam Musa Kazem (as) has said, "The sleep of a wise man
is far better than vigilance of a fool during the night."
Imam Musa Kazem (as) has said, "Human being has not
been given anything higher than wisdom and intellect."
In other words, a person's intellect and wisdom is
recognized through his speech.
