A man found a cocoon of a butterfly.

One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop, not making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it couldn't go any further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon.

The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a
swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because
he expected that, at any moment, the wings would
enlarge and expand to be able to support the
body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not
understand was that the restricting cocoon and
the struggle required for the butterfly to get
through the tiny opening were Allah's way of
forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in
our lives. If Allah allowed us to go through our
lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us.

We would not be as strong as what we could
have been. We could never "fly"!


I asked for Strength.........
And Allah gave me Difficulties to make me strong.

I asked for Wisdom.........
And Allah gave me Problems to solve.

I asked for Prosperity.........
And Allah gave me Brain and Brawn to work.

I asked for Courage.........
And Allah gave me Danger to overcome.

I asked for Love..........
And Allah gave me Troubled people to help.

I asked for Favours.........
And Allah gave me Opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted ........
I received everything I needed!


"So blessed be Allah, the best of creators!"
Sura The Believer (23) verse 14

Although I am a strict atheist, I believe this is a very interesting and useful chapter.

I have heard this story before and i think that the moral of it is very true, yet somehow people have worse lives then others and sometimes they give up, so how does this moral come into their lives?

I believe that's where your faith comes in. Some people go through life with very little obstacles and then when something bad happens, they are not prepared to deal with it. I believe when your faced with obstacles, you learn and grow from it. It only makes you a stronger person inside. Speaking for myself, I think prayer is the most useful tool in getting through the toughest times. When one door closes another door is open.

do you have this in turkish? it is beautiful

The text about the cocoon and a butterfly has been circulating the Internet as an inspirational story for a few years now and the text "I asked for..." - from what I know - is based on an anonymous prayer of a patient from a rehabilitation clinic in New York - but did the patient invent it him/her-self or used some other sources - I don't know. In any case - it is beautiful and inspirational

Being in an inspiratinal mood here's one of my favourite poems of Rumi (Mevlana):
Do you know what the music is saying?
"Come follow me and you will find the way.
Your mistakes can also lead you to the Truth.
When you ask, the answer will be given."

Will anybody be so kind to translate it into turkish?

It is a very beautiful story, and I have tied to look it up on kuranikerim.com, but have not found it.

I need it for a scrap book I'm making for my husband who is going to join the army.