Dear Ant
I locked eyes with you again this morning. Together with your comrades, you were carrying the burden of life on your back with great love… When you saw me, you didn’t know where to put your hands and feet. As if you were apologizing, as if to say, “I took these without permission.” Then, when I put down another bite, you rubbed your hands on your head. You know how they say, “If I didn’t know you, this is how I would understand your actions”? Here I know you and I know that you were praising Allah.
Dear Ant
You ask how I know you, you’re right. If only you’d heard what they were saying about you. Let me tell you and you read yourself. Perhaps when you open the Qur’ân al-kerîm, you will see the bounty offered to you there.
Allah calls you Nahl… He makes your name the title of a separate sûrah. Then, not content with that, he makes the Prophet talk to Solomon. Your actions make the prophet Solomon smile. What you cannot do is a witness that you know your helplessness.
Dear Ant
You didn’t just talk to Solomon the prophet, of course. Sultan Suleiman also remembered you every time he saw you. Let me tell you this parable, listen carefully:
Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent used to grow fruit trees in the garden of the palace in his spare time from state affairs. One day he met you on the tree he was growing. But you should see… There are thousands of you!
He immediately asked the Shaykhulislām of the time, Ebussuûd Efendi, the following question in a poetic language:
An ant if it wastes in the field
Is there a sin when he breaks the moment?
(If the ant harms the tree and dries it up, is there any sin in destroying the ant?)
In the face of this question, Ebussuûd Efendi defends your right against the pâshâ and gives the following answer.
Tomorrow when you reach the dîwân of Hakk
The ant takes the right from Solomon.
That’s it, dear Ant,
Your right has been protected for centuries. But scientists are still studying you in this age. I’ll tell you if you want.
You’ve always lived in colonies. And a female ant on your head. He said you never disobeyed him. You were the best one to explain and live the respect for women.
You have two stomachs. In one you store food for yourself and in the other for your comrades. In this way, you taught them to be grateful and generous.
Then you will be burdened with twenty times your own weight. In this state, you used to say, “You do not burden anyone with a burden he cannot lift.”
You’ve been proven to be both herbivores and carnivores. You have eaten your fill of every blessing Allah has given you. With this, you send the message, “Balance is very important”.
The job of the worker ants inside you is to take the garbage from the nest to a special garbage dump. As they excitedly carried this garbage, they were heard to say, “Cleanliness comes from faith.”
I don’t know how else to describe you, Dear Ant,
You can only be admired…
