"All success is rooted in either luck or failure. If you begin with luck, you learn nothing. However, if you begin with failure and learn to evaluate it, you also learn to succeed. Failure begets knowledge, out of knowledge one gains wisdom, and it is with wisdom that one can truly become successful."

-The Standish Group

Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi (rahmatuLlahi alaihi) mentions in his Mathnawi, a story of Sultan Mahmood: One day the Sultan decided to test his ministers and ordered them to crush the most prized pearl of his treasury. One by one, each of 65 ministers declined, stating that the pearl was far too valuable to be destroyed.

The King then summoned his closest and trusted courtier, Ayaaz, and ordered him to crush the pearl. Without any delay or hesitation, Ayaaz crushed the pearl into fragments. When the ministers expressed disbelief and shock at such audacity, the King asked Ayaaz to inform them as to the reason for him having broken the pearl.

In response, Ayaaz asked these ministers: "Which is more important, the Royal Decree or the pearl? "

The question we pose to ourselves is:

"Which is more important, the command of my Allah or the haram desire of my heart?"

The haram desires of the heart are akin to pearls, which appear to be quite beautiful but we should not fulfill these haram desires at the cost of breaking the decrees of Allah.

Ayaaz attained closeness to the king through his loyalty and faithfulness and his obedience and submission. Similarly, we will gain the extreme nearness and intimate closeness to the King of Kings through loyalty and faithfulness. This in turn is dependent upon sincere obedience and complete submission to His decrees

"Read! In the name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists). Has created man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is the most Generous, who has taught (the writing) by the pen. Has taught man that which he did not know."

Surat Al-'Alaq, (Allah - Al-Qura'an - Verses 1 to 5).

“Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave” (Muhammad - sallallaho alaihi wassallam - peace be upon him)

“The ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the martyr” (Muhammad - sallallaho alaihi wassallam - peace be upon him)

“He who leaveth home in search of knowledge, walketh in the path of God” (Muhammad - sallallaho alaihi wassallam - peace be upon him)

"Seek knowledge even as far as China." (Muhammad - sallallaho alaihi wassallam - peace be upon him)

“The acquisition of knowledge is obligation on every Muslim, male and female.” (Muhammad - sallallaho alaihi wassallam - peace be upon him)

“One learned man is harder on the devil than a thousand ignorant worshippers.” (Muhammad - sallallaho alaihi wassallam - peace be upon him)

“Whoever seeketh knowledge and findeth it, will get two rewards; one of them the reward for desiring it, and the other for attaining it; therefore, even if he do not attain it, for him is one reward.” (Muhammad - sallallaho alaihi wassallam - peace be upon him)

“The world and all things in it are valuable; but the most valuable thing in the world is a virtuous woman” (Muhammad - sallallaho alaihi wassallam - peace be upon him)

“Four things support the world: the learning of the wise, the justice of the great, the prayers of the good, and the valor of the brave” (Muhammad - sallallaho alaihi wassallam - peace be upon him)

“Do you love your creator? Love your fellow-beings first” (Muhammad - sallallaho alaihi wassallam - peace be upon him)

“Verily the best of God's servants are just and learned kings; and verily the worst are bad and ignorant kings.” (Muhammad - sallallaho alaihi wassallam - peace be upon him)

<<<...MARKETING...>>>

1. You see a gorgeous girl at a party, you go up to her & say,"I am very rich, Marry me...!!!" This is Direct Marketing.

2. You are at a party with a bunch of frndz & see a gorgeous girl. One of ur frnd gossips to her & pointing at you, says "He is very rich. Marry Him". That is Advertising. 

3. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her & get her telephone number. The next day you call & say,"Hi, I am very rich, Marry me." That is Telemarketing. 

4. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her & say," I am very rich, Marry Me." She gives you a nice hard slap on ur face. That is Customer's Feedback  

5. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: "I am very rich. Marry me!" And she introduces you to her husband. - That's demand and supply gap.

6. You're at a party and see gorgeous girl. You get up and straighten your tie, you walk up to her and pour her a drink, you open the door (of the car)for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her ride and then say:"By the way, I'm rich. Will you marry me?" - That's Public Relations

7. You're! at a party and see gorgeous girl. She walks up to you and says: "You are very rich! Can you marry ! me?" - That's Brand Recognition.

8. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and before you say anything, another person come and tell her: "I'm rich. Will you marry me?" and she goes with him - That's competition eating into your market share.

9. You see and gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and before you say: "I'm rich Marry me!" your wife arrives. - That's restriction for entering new markets. 

• “By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher” - Socrates

• "I've had bad luck with both my wives. The first one left me and the second one didn't.” - Patrick Murray

• I recently read that love is entirely a matter of chemistry. That must be why my wife treats me like toxic waste. - David Bissonette

• When a man steals your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep her.- Sacha Guitry

• After marriage, husband and wife become two sides of a coin; they just can't face each other, but still they stay together.-  Hemant Joshi

• Woman inspires us to great things, and prevents us from achieving them. - Dumas

• The great question... which I have not been able to answer...is, "What does a woman want? - Sigmund Freud

• I had some words with my wife, and she had some paragraphs with me. - Anonymous

• "Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing. She goes

Tuesdays, I go Fridays."-  Henny Youngman

• "I don't worry about terrorism. I was married for two years." - Sam Kinison

• "There's a way of transferring funds that is even faster than electronic banking. It's called marriage." - James Holt McGavran

• Two secrets to keep your marriage brimming: 1. Whenever you're wrong, admit it (2). Whenever you're right, shut up. - Nash

• The most effective way to remember your wife's birthday is to forget it once... - Anonymous

• You know what I did before I married? Anything I wanted to. - Henny Youngman

• My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met. - Rodney Dangerfield

• A good wife always forgives her husband when she's wrong. - Milton Berle

• Marriage is the only war where one sleeps with the enemy. - Anonymous

• A man inserted an 'ad' in the classifieds: "Wife wanted". Next day he received a hundred letters. They all said the same thing: "You can have mine." - Anonymous

• First Guy (proudly): "My wife's an angel!" Second Guy: "You're lucky, mine's still alive."