Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Planting Date Palms


--by James Fadiman, posted Jan 16, 2008
[A Sufi Story]

Harun al-Rashid was once walking through a plantation when he saw a hunched man with a long, gray beard, putting in sapling date palms. He greeted him, saying, ‘Take it easy, father!’

‘Thank you, my son,’ the old man replied.

‘What are you doing, father?’ he asked the old man.

‘As you see, I am planting sapling date palms.’

‘How many years does it take a date palm to bear fruit?’

‘Ten, twenty, thirty years. Some take as long as a hundred years.’

‘Will you be able to eat the fruit of these palms you are planting?’

‘I may not live to see the day,’ said the old man, ‘but we eat from those our forebears planted. So let us plant, that those who follow us may eat in turn!'
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Readers Comments

Aurelia wrote: We are planting seeds in more than one way. Our children are watching us and our actions speak louder than words. I enjoyed this story, thank you for sharing. ~aurelia
smoothsugardoll wrote: lets all keep sowing kindness so our children and their children can reap the benefits
brighteyes wrote: We are all stewards of this earth and your story also shows the importance of each generation looking out for the interest of the next....also how your actions today, effect those in the future....love, kindness, compassion is not lost but continues on and on and on...in this case, the kindness bears the fruit of date....how sweet is that??!!!
lOVEBUG wrote: We do plant so our children can eat, it has always been like that and it always will be so, the laws of nature never change.
perseverance wrote: It teaches so many things in life.It is like the politician who thinks of the nest election and a statesman who thinks of the next generation!!!
Indrasen wrote: The thought that the fruits would be useful for the future generations is far more gratifying than that they will useful to ourselves.
Passion4Life wrote: What a great humanitarian..... his kindness and thoughtfulness will long be remembered.....
Flowers wrote: A great lesson!
Aiya wrote: This is a wonderful story. :) Kindness being spread over hundreds of years... wow.
tambu wrote: This story says many things...
thank you.
Sufi wisdom is so inspiring!

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