PROPHET Moses was born in Egypt, where he lived for about thirty years. Then, for some reason, he had to leave Egypt and after a long journey he reached Midian (Syria). When he was resting on the outskirts of Midian, an interesting incident took place which has been narrated as follows in the Quran:

When Moses arrived at the well of Midian, he found a group of men watering their flocks, and two women standing apart from them, holding back their flocks, he asked, “What is the matter with you?” They replied, “We cannot draw water until the shepherds take away their sheep. Our father is a very old man.” So Moses watered their flocks and returned into the shade and prayed, “Lord, I am truly in need of whatever blessing You may send down for me.” One of the two women came up to him and said, “My father is asking you to come to reward you for helping us.” When Moses came to their father and introduced himself, he said, “Don’t be afraid! You have escaped from those wrongdoing people.” One of the girls said, “Father, hire him! For the best man to hire is someone strong and trustworthy.” (28: 23-26)

Moses lived with his Midian hosts for almost eight years. His host, Shuayb married his daughter to Moses; then after eight years Moses returned to his homeland, Egypt.

What the woman said when she asked her father to hire Moses is the best formula for success. It is a two point formula—honesty and hard work. Honesty makes one a trustworthy person and hard work means that a man is ready to dedicate himself to his work.

‘Strong’ refers to physical strength and ‘honest’ refers to spiritual strength: both are equally important and desirable human qualities. There is a saying: ‘God helps those who help themselves.’ What is self-help? Self-help means to prove that you have these two natural qualities—honesty and the ability to work hard.