you might not understand or remember

Basket case

An old American Muslim lived on a farm in the
mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young
grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early
sitting at the kitchen table reading his Quraan .

His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried
to imitate him in every way he could. One day the
grandson asked, "Papa, I try to read the Quraan
just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do
understand I forget as soon as I close the book.
What good does reading the Quraan do?"

The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal
in the stove and replied, "Take this coal basket
down to the river and bring me back a basket of
water." The boy did as he was told, but all the
water leaked out before he got back to the house.

The grandfather laughed and said, "You'll have to
move a little faster next time," and sent him
back to the river with the basket to try again.

This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket
was empty before he returned home. Out of
breath, he told his grandfather that it was
impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went
to get a bucket instead.

The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water;
I want a basket of water. You're just not trying hard
enough," and he went out the door to watch the
boy try again.

At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but
he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he
ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out
before he got back to the house.

The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran
hard, but when he reached his grandfather the
basket was again empty.

Out of breath, he said, "See Papa, it's useless!"

"So you think it is useless?" The old man said,

"Look at the basket."

The boy looked at the basket and for the first
time realized that the basket was different. It had
been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and
was now clean, inside and out.

"Son, that's what happens when you read the
Quraan. You might not understand or remember
everything, but when you read it, you will be
changed, inside and out. That is the work of
Allah in our lives."