By Abdullahi Jamaa
A man was blessed with an enormous treasure of wealth composed of two gardens of grapevine, surrounded by a fence of dense date palms and separated by a golden cornfield.
Sandwiched between the lush green gardens is a flowing river that eddied a mist of fine droplets onto the leaves while gently splashing cool water into the roots.
Under the sunrise the gardens glowed with saplings spread out. It was a place of enchanting shades and of a beauty that bounded from a rare blessing. Every plant stayed in a spick-and-span row wafting gently along the edges of the foam-lipped banks.
He harvested an assortment of royal fruits: grapes, berries and dates. The river provided a never-ending source of water. Without a bad season all throughout the year, this amazing wonderland was a delightful abode quiet and cool.
A little paradise on earth, he built a large family and gained a huge following of people. With every successful harvest his income increased and his prestige and fame rose. Having accumulated the best of wealth, his ruling passion for life intensified.
A successful man of means, he enjoyed not just the accumulation of wealth but also a rare scenery of richness where a picturesque verdure rebounded nature’s sights and sounds. The whistling date palm and the roaring river were a sweet melody that emboldened his prestige and affluence.
He enjoyed life at the pinnacle of richness. If worldly wealth was a means of accomplishment then this man was truly accomplished. He lived in the lap of luxury enjoying a hedonistic lifestyle where many can only dream about.
Sadly his face flushed with pride in sheer arrogance, thinking that the wealth will last forever without any reduction or destruction. As a man basking too long in smugness, he started looking down on poor people, belittled them and considered himself as a breed above from the rest.
Honorable Visitor
One day, on the side-line of one of the gardens the wealthy man met with his humble companion, a man who has nothing to his name expect a resounding faith and trust towards his creator Allah. Despite his life of abject poverty this poor man was a rare gem full of contentment and satisfaction .Unknown in the world but well-known in the heavens.
The honourable visitor was truly amazed. He observed the abundance of wealth in the rich man’s gardens and the exceptional stunning scenery that exemplified inestimable heavenly blessings. His encounter with real-life opulence invited an unenvious sense of bewilderment.
The poor man was a staunch believer, an obedient servant of Allah and a man full of wisdom. He knew that real wealth belonged to Allah, a blessing to whoever he wills at an immeasurable quantity. He paused to reflect about the affairs of the arrogant man and his refusal to appreciate this boundless blessings from the real owner of wealth.
The poor man remonstrated against the wealthy who denied Allah’s favours. He reminded him that the best was to enjoy Allah’s provision through gratification and obedience. He warned about the certainty of Allah’s punishment against those who deny his blessings.
With disobedience and disparaging eloquence the rich man spoke of his wealth without acknowledging the role of his Creator. He said to the poor man that he will never perish, that he doubted if the hour of judgement will ever come and that if it comes he will find something better in exchange.
The poor said: “Do you deny the one who created you from dust. It may be that my Lord will send thunderbolt on your garden, destroying, or making it a barren slippery sand without any produce”
With avaricious self-satisfaction and heedlessness, the rich man did not take any lesson from the ensuing conversation. As an incorrigible lover of wealth he never liberated his bigoted conscience, remaining obstinate with a barren hope for life while absorbing more and more wealth.
In the end his wealth was ruined beyond recognition. A discharge of devastating thunderbolt was sent, a massive undulation that nattered the river and scattered the gardens. The once radiant gardens were turned upside down with bare silt and sand.
Don’t be arrogant
There is always no room for those whose wealth make them arrogant, niggard and extravagant. They will be crushed and put into eternal hellfire.
“Woe to every scorner and mocker. Who collects wealth and [continuously] counts it. He thinks that his wealth will make him immortal” Quran 104:1-3
Believers do not sell their eternal bliss in sacrificing the deen for wealth neither are they prisoners of some devious worldly inclination. Temperate in consumption of wealth and thrifty in philanthropy, the rich Muslims hold their wealth in the hands but not in their hearts.
Our beloved prophet (peace be upon him) said: “By Allah, it is not poverty I fear for you, rather I fear that you will be given the wealth of the world, just as it was given to those before you. You will compete for it just as they competed for it and it will ruin you just as it ruined them.” (Bukhārī)
Editor’s note: This story is adopted from Surah Al-Kahf of the Holy Quran, with descriptive commentaries by the writer.
