The bees make their hives at one place, but often
have to travel many miles to other places to suck
the nectar from the flowers. Sometimes they have to
keep flying the whole day in order to do so, and
observation of the bees has shown that when they
leave home in the early morning, it is still dark, but
that when they set off home in the evening, the sun
has not yet set and it is still light. To leave in the
morning darkness and return in the evening light is
a very practical thing to do, because travelling in
the morning means moving from dark to light while
travelling in the evening means moving from light
to dark. The bee takes into account the time span
between its arrival and departure and makes its
journeys accordingly. It knows that it can travel to
distant parts without losing its way provided it
does so in the daylight, but it can start its journey in
darkness because it knows that daylight is not far
away. Similarly, it avoids the possibility of going
astray in the dark by being as close as possible to its
hive in the evening when darkness is about to fall,
so it sets off on its last journey home while it is still
light.
Nature teaches us a lesson through the bees. It
shows us that each of our steps should be based on
realities and not on wishful thinking or vague
suppositions. The future will, of necessity, have its
moments of darkness as well as its moments of
light. If we fail to note the significance of this
difference and begin our journeys in ignorance and
without forethought, the future will hold little that
is bright for us. Moments of light and dark will
come according to their own set course, and not as a
result of our wishful thinking. If we do not pay
heed to the realities of existence and plan our lives
accordingly, we shall have the illusion that we are
heading towards a bright future and splendid
results, whereas, when the next moment of
darkness arrives, we shall discover that, all along,
we had been heading towards darkness.
Ref - The Moral Vision
- by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
