9. BEING BALANCED IS PRAISEWORTHY
Exalted is He, Who made the creation stand in between two opposite folds; the ones who are balanced are rare to find!
Among the creation you find those whose anger drives them to injure and kill. Those whose abnormal forbearance made them cold and naive, not feeling anything even when they are verbally abused!
And those whose appetite makes them eat whatever they desire, and those whose abstention makes them deny themselves their rights and so forth.
The praised ones are those who stand in between, balanced and moderate. If someone spends everything he has, he becomes prodigal whereas the miser is he who stashes money and forbids himself from enjoying it. Although it is known that money is just a means to serve a purpose, so when a person spends it recklessly he will eventually be in need of compromising his status, religion and even endure favours of misers upon him—which is inappropriate because it’s better to let your enemy inherit you than being in the need from a friend.
On the other hand, some people are stingy and their miserliness comes in different levels; the worst of which is when the miser becomes obsessed with money to the point that some of them may pass away due to their bad diet and lack of nutrition. They do not spend a dime on health and afterwards someone else inherits his wealth leaving him in regret! I was informed of such type of stories that are beyond belief and I will mention some of them so you may take lesson:
There was a trader living in the city of Sur, and he used to buy two pieces of bread and nuts from a shop. He entered his house around sunset and he put the nut on the fire, giving him light lasting long enough for him to remove his robe; and by the time its shell becomes grilled, he would wipe it on the two breads and eat them. He remained living this lifestyle for a while until he died. The ruler of the city’ found that this man had thirty thousand in currency!
I saw a man from the well versed people of knowledge, and when he was sick, he stayed at his friend’s house without having any person serving him or accompanying him even as he was in great pain. After a while he died and they found that he had five hundred dinar hidden between his books!
Abu’l Hasan Al-Randsi told me one day that a man I knew got sick, so he called me and I visited him and he said to me, ‘The judge sealed my wealth.’ so I said, ‘If you want I can go now and break the seal to give you a third of it to distribute as you like.’
He said: ‘No, by Allah, I do not wish to distribute it but I want my money to be with me.’ I said, ‘They will not give it to you [after it was sealed] but I can bring the third of it so you do with it what you want!’
He refused and remained that way until he died and his money was taken!
He also narrated to me that a man came to him and mentioned a weird story. The man said, ‘My mother in law became sick so she asked me to buy her khabisab.
So 1 went and bought her what she asked for and gave it to her while she was lying down in a room and then left. After a while my young son came and told me that she was swallowing the gold! I got up and found her dipping the golden dinar in the food I bought her then swallowing it, so I stopped her and admonished her for such behaviour. She said, ‘I fear you will marry another woman besides my daughter.’ I said, ‘I will not do so.’ She said: ‘swear by Allah that you will not.’ I swore and she handed me the rest of the gold and died afterwards. I buried her and after some months one of our children died and I went to bury him next to her and took with me a big sheet and told the digger to exhume her grave and collect her bones. I then brought them to my house and put them in a basket and poured some water on them until I found around eighty dinars she swallowed.’
A friend of mine told me that a man died and was buried in his house. After some time his grave was opened to move him and found underneath his head a block covered by asphalt. His family was asked about this block so they said that he made it and stated in his will to be buried with him this way and stated that blocks do not last in graves except with asphalt. They carried it away and realised that it was a heavy; so when they broke it they found inside of it nine hundred dinar, which the people in charge of heritage took.
I was told there was a man who cleaned the Masjid and collected its dust and formed it in bricks. When he was asked about it, he said this was blessed dust which he would like to be buried with him in his grave. When he died, the bricks were put on his grave and some of them were thrown away in the house. When it rained the bricks broke apart and they found out he hid money in them so they went and took the bricks they put on his grave and found them filled with money.
One of the people I know was a rich person. He was sick but he never told his family of any of his wealth. I am almost certain it was due to his miserliness and love for this life hoping to live long. He never told them where he put his wealth fearing they may take it while he was alive. Indeed, there is no further shame than that!
One of mv friends told me a story he witnessed, so he said, ‘There was a man who had two sons and one daughter and had one thousand dinars that he buried.
When he was extremely sick his family gathered around him so he said to one of his sons, ‘Stay and do not leave!’
When he was alone with him he told him, ‘your brother is busy playing with birds and your sister is married to a Turk. If they take my money, they will spend it in play and amusement. However, you on the other hand live your life the way I do and you have my manners and lifestyle. So I want you to know that I hid one thousand dinars it is in a place (he named). If I were to die, take it solely for yourself.’ Upon hearing this, the son immediately went away and took the money. After some short time, the father recovered and asked his son to give him back his money but the son refused to do so. Short time late, the son became too sick and his father came begging him to asking him where the money is, reminding him that he favoured him over everyone and imploring him not to be like this, and that he feared that he will die and the money will be lost this way! He kept pleading with him until he told him of the place of the money so the father went and took it. The son later on recovered and went to his father, who had become sick, begging him to direct him to where he hid the money, the father refused until he died and the money was never found!
Exalted is He, who prevented those people from sanity and intellect.
“They are like animals, in fact they are more misguided.” [al-Furqan (25): 44]
(Source: al-Hafiz Abu’l-Faraj ibn al-jawzl [d. 597AH] “CAPTURED THOUGHTS being” a translation of his masterpiece ‘Sayd al-K hatir)
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