The Honour of the Ant

The following account is paraphrased from the book ‘Lore of Light’ by Hajjah Amina Adil ق.

When Nimrod built the pyre to try to burn the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) ﵇ alive, an ant was seen carrying water in its mouth rushing to the site of the pyre.

When the ant was spotted by other ants, they asked it where it was rushing to with the water.

It responded, “Don’t you know that Ibrahim ﵇, the friend of Allah ﷻ, is being burned by Nimrod?”.

“Have you seen your size and the size of the pyre? What will you do with that drop of water?” said the others. ? The ant said, “What does that matter, I have to do what I can to help. God will determine the outcome of the effort.”

This sheer determination of the ant to do what is right and what is required to help Sayyadina Ibrahim ﵇, irrespective of what appears to be the insurmountable outcome, is the reason the ant was honoured by being mentioned in the Holy Qur’an and the reason a chapter (Surah) named after it.

Contrary to modern belief, it’s the effort that counts, and effort never goes unnoticed. That is the promise of the Creator ﷻ.