Al-Adba’s Race

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ had a she-camel called Al-Adba which would not allow any other camel to surpass her [in a race]. A bedouin came riding his camel which outran it. The Muslims were much grieved at this. The Prophet ﷺ perceived it and said, "It is Allah's way that He lowers whatever raises itself in the world."
[Bukhari].

The people became upset but not the Prophet ﷺ; the 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡  soul, the 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 of creation, a 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒍𝒆 man that he was who walked upon this earth.

Once an angel descended as Angel Gabriel (as) sat with the Prophet ﷺ.

The angel said: “Oh Muhammad! Your Lord told me to ask you ‘Shall I make you a king or a servant and Messenger?’ Gabriel said: “Humble yourself before your Lord, O Muhammad!” The Prophet ﷺ answered, “A servant and Messenger.” [Al-Albani]

The Prophet’s ﷺ carriage was one of goodness and humility. He had no shred of conceit nor expected entitlement as others may have when granted positions of power or privilege. Take Pharaoh’s example. He basked in his conceit, born of power and station, going so far above himself as to disconnect from reality and the truth; to utter words freely, without basis and making false claims, spreading lies as no human has right to. With those words, claiming to be a god, did he delude himself into justifying the hurt and suffering he inflicted upon fellow human beings.   

Ibn Abbas reported: The Prophet ﷺ said, “When Allah drowned Pharaoh, he [Pharaoh] said: I believe in the One in whom the children of Israel believe. Gabriel said: O Muhammad, if only you could have seen me while I was taking mud from the sea and filling his mouth, fearing lest the mercy of Allah should reach him.” [Tirmidhi]

So, coming back to what the Prophet ﷺ said when Al-Adba the she-camel finally lost a race. He ﷺ taught everything has it’s time. “𝙄𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝘼𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙝'𝙨 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙃𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙩𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙."🌙

𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 of S. N Jalali ✍🏼 (𝑨𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓 of 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗯𝗻 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 , Islamic chapter books for kids📚)