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I heard him calling onto his wife, “Lubabah!”
She said, “I am at your service, Abu Ghayth.”
The old man said, “I found the owner of the dinars calling for it, and he does
not intend to give any reward to the person who finds it. I said to him, ‘Give us
one tenth of the money,’ and he refused and said he would take his case to
Allah (SWT). What should I do, Lubabah? I must return it, for I fear my Lord
and I fear that my sin is multiplied.”
The wife replied, “Oh man! We have been struggling and suffering from
poverty with you for the last 50 years, and you have four daughters, two
sisters, my mother and me, and you are the ninth. Keep all the money and
feed us, for we are hungry, and clothe us, for you know better our situation.
Perhaps Allah (SWT) the Almighty will make you rich afterwards and you
might be able to give the money back after you have fed your children, or
Allah (SWT) will pay the amount you owe on the day when the kingdom will
belong to the King (Allah).”
The old man exclaimed, “Will I consume Haraam (unlawful) after 86 years
of my life, and burn my organs with Hellfire after I have been patient with
my poverty, and become worthy of Allah’s (SWT) anger, even though I am
close to my grave? No, by Allah (SWT), I will not do so!” I left amazed at
his condition and that of his wife. Later I heard the owner of the pouch,
man from Khurasan, calling out again, and the old man repeated his advice.
This time he asked for ten dinars instead of hundred dinars. The Khurasani
refused. The people dispersed and left. Later, once again, the Khurasani
made the same call. The old man came again and said, “Khurasani, I said
to you the day before yesterday to reward the finder a hundred dinars and
you refused. Then I advised you to give him ten dinars and you refused. So
will you give only one dinar so that he can buy with half of it things he needs
and with the other half sheep’s milk so that he can give to the people and
feed his children?” The Khurasani again refused. The old man said angrily,
“Come and take your money so that I can sleep at night, for I have not been
in a good mood ever since I found this money pouch.” So the owner of the
pouch went with the old man and I followed them until the old man entered
his house, dug a hole, and pulled out the money and said, “Take your money
and ask Allah (SWT) to forgive me and bless me from His bounty.”