The Wise Gems {ON HOLD}

True Love~3

In the first century of the Hijri Calender,there lived a pious but exceptionally poor young man, Thaabit, that constantly searched for knowledge and spent his life in this manner.

One day he left his home in search of food, as he could find none there. In this state of blinding hunger, he ended up heading toward one of the lush gardens that had caught his eye, on the roadside.

The garden was overflowing with huge apple trees, one of which had a few of its thick branches hanging outside the fence. His nafs began whispering to him to eat one of the juicy apples, in order to rid himself of the extreme hunger.After all, the massive apple garden wouldn't be affected by the absence of only one apple.

With this in mind,he plucked an apple and sat down to eat it until his hunger had disappeared. But as he began his journey home, his nafs began pestering him and he started to ask himself how he could do such a thing. Notice that this one of the qualities of a mu'min. When he commits a sin, he will have guilt eating him up inside until he sincerely asks for Allah's forgiveness, sometimes the guilt won't go away.

Sitting down, he started asked himself how and why he had consumed something that was not his, and something he did not have permission to eat. He hadn't asked the owner for his forgiveness, either. The next morning, he immediately made his way back to the beautiful gardens and searched for the owner.

When Thaabit found him, he approached him and said something to this effect:

"Shaykh, yesterday, in a state of extreme hunger I ate an apple from your garden without your permission. Today I have come to ask for your forgiveness for having taken it."

The owner replied with something to this effect:

"By Allah I will not forgive you..In fact I am angry from you until the Day of Judgement where I will complain to Allah about you."

Thaabit, a man still very young, began crying and pleaded with this man, asking the man for forgiveness countless times. Thaabit told the man that he would do anything for him, in order to gain his forgiveness. He continued pleading and the owner refused and grew more and more stubborn, insisting that he would not forgive Thaabit.

Leaving the garden, the young man followed the owner at his heels and begged the man to forgive him. The owner eventually arrived at his own home,entered and closed the door. Thaabit waited at the door in anticipation of seeing him once again when the time for 'Asr salaah would enter.

When, finally, the owner came out ,he found Thaabit still standing outside the door with tears streaming down his face and soaking his beard,causing his handsome face to glow with more Noor than that which had already been present before.

Thaabit tried his luck once again, and said something to this effect, 'Shaykh, I am ready to work as a gardener for you without any pay for my entire life or any other condition that you lay out for me, as long as you forgive me.'

This time, the man stopped to think about his offer for a while, and after a few excruciating moments in Thaabit's life, he said something to this effect, 'Ibni, I have thought about it and will forgive you on one conditon...'

Thaabit's face lit up as he was overjoyed, and he told the man to say what the condition was.

The owner told him that he wanted him to marry his daughter. Thaabit was shocked and couldn't understand why the owner would put down that condition. Before he could say anything, the owner of the garden continued and something to this effect:

'Ibni... you must know that my daughter is blind, deaf and can not talk.She doesn't walk either. For many years, I have been searching for a husband for her, that I can trust to take care of her and accept her as she is. I will forgive you only if you accept her and agree to marry her.'

Thaabit was once again shocked, and this time he had a heavy heart. He began thinking of how he was so young, and would have to live his life looking after his wife. How would she be able to look after him and his house...?

He reminded himself to have patience with her, and that marrying her would be nothing compared to the punishment he would receive in the hereafter for taking that apple.

He looked towards the man and said something to this effect:

'Shaykh I have accepted your daughter in my nikaah, and I ask Allah to make this a means of reward for me an her as well as making this marriage something better than being punishment in the Aakhirah.'

The owner replied that the Walimah would be at his place, at a certain date, and that he would take care of the mahr.

When the day of his nikaah came, Thaabit walked with heavy steps, and a broken heart full of sorrow,a contrast to the emotions of any other groom on his wedding day.After the nikaah, when he went to his bride's home, his father in law lead him to her room and let him in, making a du'aa for the young couple.

As Thaabit caught sight of his bride, his heart stopped. Inside, he found a woman with a face shining brighter than the moon, and whose hair cascaded like silk down her back. She got up and made her way to him, greeting him shyly.

Staying rooted to the spot, Thaabit continued looking at her as if she were one of the Hoor-al 'Ayn. He couldn't believe his eyes, and couldn't comprehend why his father in law had lied to him. His wife understood his confusion and took his hand in hers, and said something to this effect:

'My father did not lie to you, oh my husband, as I am blind from looking toward haraam , I am deaf from listening to haraam and I am unable to talk about haraam. My feet too, do not walk toward haraam...I am my father's only child and for many years he has been searching for a pious husband for me. When he saw the fear of Allah you had in yourself after taking that apple, he knew that you were fit to be my husband.'

Thaabit was overjoyed, and embraced his bride. Can you guess which Thaabit this was? Let me give you a clue...his son was also a great scholar of Islaam and spent his life acquiring knowledge. Another clue? His son's name was Nu'man ibn Thaabit...can you give me Nu'man's title, which we all know him by? Without Googling his name? Leave your answers in the comments, In Shaa Allah, and be honest about it. I will In Shaa Allah tell you guys who they both were in the next post, or in the comments!