There was once a businessman who was sitting by the beach in a small village. As he sat, he saw a fisherman rowing a small boat towards the shore having caught quite few big fish.
The businessman was impressed and asked, _“How long does it take you to catch so many fish?”_
The fisherman replied, _“Oh, just a short while.”_
_“Then why don’t you stay longer at sea and catch even more?”_ The businessman was astonished.
_“This is enough to feed my whole family,”_ the fisherman said.
The businessman then asked, _“So, what do you do for the rest of the day?”_
The fisherman replied, _“Well, I usually wake up early in the morning, go out to sea and catch a few fish, then go back and play with my kids. In the afternoon, I take a nap with my wife, and evening comes, I join my buddies in the village”_
The businessman offered a suggestion to the fisherman.
_“I am a PhD in business management. I could help you to become a more successful person. From now on, you should spend more time at sea and try to catch as many fish as possible. When you have saved enough money, you could buy a bigger boat and catch even more fish. Soon you will be able to afford to buy more boats and set up your own company”_
The fisherman continues, _“And after that?”_
The businessman laughs heartily, _“After that, you can live like a king in your own house, and when the time is right, you can go public and float your shares in the Stock Exchange, and you will be rich. you can finally retire, you can move to a house by the fishing village, wake up early in the morning, catch a few fish, then return home to play with kids, have a nice afternoon nap with your wife, and when evening comes, you can join your buddies”_
The fisherman was puzzled, _“Isn’t that what I am doing now?”_
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From Islamic perspective, the happiness is not merely a temporary state of joy and delight; rather it’s is a lifelong process aiming primarily at bringing eternal happiness, peace of mind, tranquility of heart, contentment in this world and everlasting bliss in the Hereafter.