Someone went to Muhammed and asked him, "How long must I serve my mother before I have fully repaid her what she has done for me?." The Prophet said, "If you served her all her life you could not do enough, unless in her last days she said, I forgive you what you owe me." When he asked for more explanation the Prophet added, "You serve your mother thinking that she will live for some years and then it will be over. She served you thinking, 'May my child grow and prosper and live after me.' The mother is much greater."