Sulaiman had a great army — men, and jinn, and all the birds of the air, marching together through the land. One day, as they moved through an open valley, they came upon a place where ants had made their homes in the earth below. The ground was alive with them — tiny creatures going about their work, carrying and building and living. An ant — a small, ordinary ant — looked up and saw the enormous army approaching. She called out to her people: O ants, go into your homes. Sulaiman and his armies are coming and may crush you without even knowing. Sulaiman heard her. The Quran tells us that he smiled. Then he laughed — not cruelly, but with something like wonder. A tiny creature had seen something vast and powerful coming toward her, and her first thought was not to save herself. It was to warn her people. And then Sulaiman made du'a. He said: O my Lord, inspire me to be grateful for the blessing You have given me and my parents. Inspire me to do what is right and what pleases You. And by Your mercy, place me among Your righteous servants. That is the whole story. Just three verses. A king who commanded armies of men and jinn and birds heard one tiny ant speak — and stopped, and smiled, and turned straight to gratitude. He did not think: I am too great to notice something so small. He did not keep marching without a second thought. He heard her. He was moved. And he thanked Allah. Before the army moved on, the ants were safe in their homes. And Sulaiman's prayer rose quietly into the sky — asking for gratitude, asking for goodness, asking to be counted among the righteous. Three things. Not more power. Not more armies. Gratitude. Goodness. And nearness to Allah. On a quiet night, before sleep, that is a very beautiful thing to ask for too.