A beggar planted himself at a rich man’s threshold. That is, every day he asked for alms, and what set him…

A beggar planted himself at a rich man’s threshold. That is, every day he asked for alms, and what set him apart from the others was that he demanded a definite amount: “Give me a thousand dinars,” he would say. But the rich man did not want to give more than a dirham, because, looking at the beggar’s state, his reason would not allow him to give a thousand dinars. The beggar, however, was so insistent that the rich man no longer wanted to see him, and in the end, one day, he gave his servant a thousand dinars and said, “Give this to that beggar, only let him get out of my sight.” The beggar ran off, overjoyed at having reached his goal. The rich man too was thankful to be rid of a shameless pest and went up to the second floor of his house, and by chance his eyes fell on a scene from the window: as the beggar who had taken his thousand gold coins was running off in excitement, a murderous thief had happened to see him; the thief, supposing that no one was watching, threw himself on the beggar and snatched away his gold; the beggar, not wanting to give it up, had lunged at him, and the thief plunged his dagger right into his heart, killed him in an instant, and then quickly took to his heels without leaving a trace. The conclusion is this: God is the Self-Sufficient. At the same time, He is the All-Wise. He is the One who gives whatever you ask, yet is in need of no one. By His wisdom He knows what you need and what you do not need. You ask for wealth, but at this very moment poverty is better for you, because wealth may be more dangerous for you than poverty. You want fame and glory, but perhaps not being well known is more beneficial for you... You ask for knowledge, but perhaps not knowing is fitting for you now; perhaps you need to wait, so that after knowing you do not turn into a devil without deeds... God knows what you need, and at the time you need it most, at the moment you are ready, He will give you that very thing. If receiving that thing is not in your destiny, then be content: this is better for you, for the Master of the distribution is God. Life has seen those destroyed by wealth, those disgraced by their fame and glory, and those humiliated by their knowledge. Whoever is patient and content with God’s decree will attain happiness! The servant must do the work that is his duty — he has been commanded to worship and obey Him and to earn a lawful provision; let him do these things and not stop. Likewise, we have been commanded to have good character; a person’s happiness and bliss in this world and the Hereafter are in proportion to his good character. No one has ever seen a person of bad character who was happy, or a person of beautiful character who was unhappy. All darkness and sorrow come from bad character, not from too little knowledge; that is why it has been said that learning character first is better. The students of Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: “We were in the presence of our teacher for 20 years; for 18 years we learned character and for 2 years knowledge; then our teacher passed away, and afterward we regretted it, wishing we had spent those 2 years learning character too.” Let every soul see good in what it has not attained, in what it could not reach, and fear what has come into its hands, lest it become a means to evil! It is rare for the things that gladden the ego to turn out good. One should ask God for the things that please God, not the things that gladden the ego. So that one day what we have taken into our hands does not plunge into our heart like a dagger! My God, bring us out of our troubles and guide us onto the path You are pleased with!

Akrom MALIK