King Anovshirvan, whom the people also called the Just, once went on a pilgrimage around the country just at the time when the Prophet Muhammad was born. On the sunlit mountainside he saw a venerable old man hunched over his work.
Accompanied by his courtiers, the king approached him and saw that the old man was planting small seedlings, no more than a year old.
- What are you doing? - asked the king.
“I plant walnut trees,” answered the old man.
The king was surprised:
- After all, you are already so old. Why do you need seedlings whose foliage you will not see, in the shade of which you will not rest and will not taste their fruits?
The old man looked at him and answered:
“Those who came before us planted, and we reaped the fruits.” Now we plant so that those who come after us can also reap the benefits.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru