Omar and the Tiny Tree That Wanted to Be Big

Omar got a sapling for his eighth birthday. It came in a little brown pot, with three small leaves and one extremely grumpy attitude. 'I want to be BIG,' the sapling announced the moment Omar brought it home. 'Like that tree over there. NOW.'

Omar blinked. 'You can talk?' 'Obviously,' said the sapling. 'I want to be tall. I want birds. I want a swing hanging from me. I want children climbing me. Make it happen, Omar.' Omar put the pot down very carefully and went to ask his grandfather what to do.

His grandfather chuckled. 'A tree that wants to grow up too fast is like a child who wants to skip school and become a doctor on Monday. It doesn't work that way. Water it. Give it sunshine. Be patient. Allah grows everything in its own time.'

Omar watered the sapling every morning. He moved it to the sunniest spot on the balcony. He even read it Surah Ar-Rahman, because his grandfather said even plants like beautiful sounds. The sapling, however, kept complaining. 'Still small! Still in a pot! Where are my birds, Omar??'

Months passed. The sapling grew a fourth leaf. Then a fifth. Then a tiny new branch. One morning Omar woke up and the sapling was nearly as tall as he was. 'Oh,' it said, surprised. 'I grew.' 'Yes,' said Omar, smiling. 'A little bit every day. You just couldn't feel it.'

Years went by. Omar grew taller. The sapling grew taller too — much taller. When Omar was sixteen, a small bulbul built a nest in its branches. When Omar was twenty, a swing hung from its biggest limb. When Omar was a grandfather himself, children climbed the tree and laughed in its shade. And the tree, whenever the wind blew through it, made a sound very much like a quiet, grateful 'alhamdulillah.'