Bilal and the Cracked Jug
The jug had blue flowers painted on it, and Dadi kept it on the highest shelf. “My mother gave me this,” she always said. “It is older than all of us!”
Bilal was only reaching for his ball when — CRASH! The jug lay in pieces. His heart thumped. He gathered the pieces and pushed them behind the curtain. There. Nobody would know.
But all day, the pieces hid in Bilal’s mind too. His food tasted of nothing. His games felt heavy. At bedtime he could bear it no longer. “Dadi,” he whispered, “I broke your jug. I hid the pieces because I was scared. I am sorry.”
Dadi was quiet for a moment. Then she hugged him tight. “My jug is broken, but my grandson is honest,” she said. “Pieces of clay can be replaced. A truthful heart is worth more than a hundred jugs.” Together they swept up the pieces, and Bilal’s heart felt as light as a feather.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: “Truthfulness leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to Paradise.” (Reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim)