Bees and Ants

"The bees are divided into groups, one of which stays with the [queen] and never leaves [her]. Another group makes wax, which is made from the dregs of honey and is sweet like figs. The bees take great care of this, more than they do with the honey. They clean it and purify it from any contamination such as urine and the like. Another group builds the houses, another group brings water, carrying it on their backs. A third group sweeps the hive and cleans it of any dead bodies (of bees). If they see a slow, lazy bee, they kill it so that it cannot corrupt the other workers and infect them with its idleness and laziness." ('Belief in Allah' by 'Umar S. al-Ashqar, pg183)

"The ant is one of the most careful creatures whose caution is proverbial. It is mentioned that when Sulayman (Solomon) saw how cautious the ant was and how careful it was to store food, he brought out an ant and asked it how much does an ant eats each year? It said, three grains of wheat. So he ordered that the ant should be placed in a bottle, and be given three grains of wheat , and the bottle should be sealed and left after a year.  When the year had passed, he commanded that the bottle should be opened, and he found one and a half grains of wheat left. He said, 'Did you not claim that you needed three grains of wheat per year?'

The ant said, 'Yes, but when I saw that you were very busy with the affairs of your own kind, I thought of how much my life was left, and I realized that it was longer than the time you had allocated for me, so I limited myself to eating half the food, and I left half in order to ensure my survival...' "  ('Belief in Allah' by 'Umar S. al-Ashqar, pg199-200)

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Reflections relevant to work

• Each group/department/person in the working environment has a delegated role/function to play to ensure continuity of operations - do not short change these roles/functions (i.e. under-staff, employees to take on multiple roles) to ensure quality of product.
• Always give 110% when producing a product - maintain high standards, constant evaluation and improvements.
• Cut off any dead weight immediately.
• Be prepared for emergencies/ 'thunderstorms' - be cautious of the budget, less expenditure - to ensure survival.