Dealing with the Liars: Lesson From the Ant

 

Imaam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah stated:

It was narrated to me that an ant ran into a grasshopper’s wing after leaving its house. So, it attempted to carry it but was unable, therefore it left and came with helpers [among ants] that would assist it in transporting it. The narrator continued: “So I removed the wing from the ground and when the ants came back, they circumambulated the place but could not find it, so they left and abandoned it.”

The narrator went on: “So I placed it on the ground again then the ant returned and tried to carry it but it was unable to do so. Then it left and came with its helpers. I picked it up and they walked around the spot but could not find it and left.” He said: I did that several times, but when it was the last time, the ants then formed a circle around the first ant, placed it in their center and dismembered it limb by limb.” When this story was narrated to Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah, he said: “Allah – exalted be He – has endowed these ants with the natural disposition to detest falsehood and to punish liars.’

Source: Shifaa’ al-Aleel fee Masaa’il al-Qadaa’ wal-Qadar wal-Hikmah wat-Ta‘leel by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, transl. by Abdus-Samee’ Abdus-Salaam.