Once upon a time, there was an old man. His eyes were almost blind, and his legs and hands trembled. He lived with his son and his wife. They had a little boy who adored his grandfather more than anything. The grandfather always told his grandson such wonderful stories and often had time for him when no one wanted to play with him. But the old man's condition had gotten so bad that he could hardly hold anything in his shaky hands without it dropping. Because of his broken teeth, he could only slurp soup. His wife often made a face at this slurping and scolded him. The old man didn't say a word and often grew sad about this scolding. But there was nothing he could do about it. One day, when the family was sitting down to lunch, his wife handed his grandfather his soup spoons. The grandfather wanted to take them, but his hands trembled so much that he dropped the whole bowl.

The woman became terribly upset and began to curse loudly as she finished the soup. The man angrily picked up his elderly father and sat him in the corner. After all, he couldn't buy new dishes every day.

The grandson had already finished eating and sat down next to his grandfather. Then he saw tears streaming down the old man's cheeks, as he gazed silently and sadly into space. The next day, the parents saw their son busily carving a piece of wood. "What's that supposed to be?" they asked in amazement. "Oh," he said. "I'll carve a little wooden bowl for each of you. Then nothing can happen when I give you the soup one day, and you're old."

Then the man looked at his wife, and they both began to cry. They suddenly realized how foolish and wrong they had treated their grandfather. They quickly sat him back down at the table with them for dinner. The wife never scolded him for smacking and slurping anymore. The father no longer got upset if a bowl broke. In general, too, they treated the old man with respect and dignity. From then on, the grandson never saw his grandfather cry again and often heard him tell him wonderful stories.

There is also a beautiful verse in the Quran that complements this story very well.

Allah says in Surah al Isra verses 23-24:

[And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him and that you should be kind to parents. So if one of them or both of them reach old age with you, do not say, "Fie!" or rebuke them, but speak to them with respectful words.

And lower for them the wing of humility out of mercy (that is, behave towards them kindly and submissively out of mercy) and say:

“My Lord, have mercy on them as they raised me when I was a child.” (Quran 17: 23-24)