About love (a Sufi tale)
This Sufi tale illustrates the importance of love, as it is this feeling that elevates the human being.

In Istanbul there is a beautiful mosque called the Beyazid Mosque. Since it was built, Sufi sheikhs and dervishes have always been present in it.

Sheikh Jemal Halveti (may Allah's Mercy be upon him), was invited by the Sultan to bless the opening of this great mosque. The sages of Istanbul, the aristocracy and even the Sultan himself were there. The cream of the Ottoman Empire had gathered there that day.

When the sheikh rose to speak before such a learned and sophisticated crowd, a simple man jumped to his feet and said, "Oh, sheikh, I have lost my donkey. All the inhabitants of Istanbul are here. Please ask them if they have seen my donkey." The sheikh replied, "Sit down. I will find your donkey.” He then addressed the crowd, "Is there anyone amongst you who does not know what love is, who has never experienced love in any of its forms?"

At first no one moved, but finally, three men stood up, one by one. The first man said, "Indeed. I, really, don't know what love is. I've never known what it's like. I don't even know how it is to like someone." The other two shook their heads in approval.

Then the sheikh said to the one who had lost the donkey, "You have lost one donkey. Here I offer you three!" For even a donkey loves fresh, green grass … When people learn to love - with real and true love - their state rises above that of the angels. When we do not know love our state becomes lower than that of donkeys.

Author: Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak
Source: cisne.blogspot.com

The Starfish Story
This story is about how one step towards changing the world can make a big difference.

There was once an old man who went to the seaside every morning to write after walking along the beach. One morning, he stumbled upon a stretch of beach where thousands of starfish had washed up.

The old man noticed a little girl approaching in the distance. As she walked, she would stop every so often to bend down and pick up an object and throw it into the sea.

As she came closer, the man asked what she was doing. She paused, looked up, and replied, “Throwing starfish into the sea.”

The man asked her why, to which she replied, “The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t go back to the sea by themselves. When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.”

The man noted, “But there are miles and miles of beach and there are thousands of starfish all along every mile, how will you make much of a difference?”

The girl bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she turned towards the old man, gave a smile and said, “I made a difference to that one!”

The Moral

This story is about how one step towards changing the world can make a big difference. Be the change for someone and inspire others to do the same.

We all have opportunities to create positive change. However, we often think we can’t do enough to make a big difference, so we delay our actions or wait for someone else to initiate.

Source: Adapted from "The Star Thrower" by Loren C. Eiseley