Islamic Stories,Rays of Guidance ✓

The Old man

🍀بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم🍀
ﷺ ♥̸̨͡🍃ﷺ♥̸̨͡🍃ﷺ

A Story of Gratitude

A story is mentioned of one of the righteous men of the past- Abdullah ibn Muhammad( rahmatullah alayh) He got lost during one of his travels & ended up on a hillock. On the hillock he came across a battered & torn tent.There was a lot of wind blowing into the tent.

The righteous man, Abdullah, peered in & saw a very old man. The man had no hands & was blind. On top of that, he was paralyzed. All he was saying as he sat there was:

الحمد لله الذي فضلني على كثير من عباده تفضيلا

“All Praise is due to Allah who has preferred me (in blessings) to so many of His slaves.”

Abdullah greeted him, “Assalamu alaykum.”

The old man asked, “Who is that?”

Abdullah: “I am a traveller who got lost, but I have a question for u.”

Old man: “I will respond to ur question, but u must do a favour for me.”

Abdullah agreed, & then asked, “Why is it that I see u in this situation that u are in, that u are not able to walk, u do not have hands & u are blind.U do not have any wealth whatsoever, & u are thanking Allah for preferring u over so many of His slaves.”

Old man: “Do u not see that I am of sane mind?”

Abdullah: “Yes.”

Old man: “How many of the slaves of Allah are insane?”

Abdullah: “Many.”

Old man: “Then Alhamdulillah, all Praise is due to Allah, who has preferred me over so many of His insane slaves.
Do u not see that I am able to hear?”

Abdullah: “Yes.”

Old man: “How many of the slaves of Allah are deaf?”

Abdullah: “Many.”

Old man: “Then Alhamdulillah who has preferred me over so many of His deaf slaves.”

The man goes on & mentions about how he can still speak while so many of the slaves of Allah are mute. He goes on to mention of how he has been blessed with Islam while other people are worshipping idols, trees, humans, etc.

Then Abdullah ibn Muhammad said, “ U have spoken the truth. So what is the request that u have?”

Old man: “All my family members have died. Aиϑ the only one person I have is a small boy who brings food & helps me with everything as I cannot bring food or even feed myself. Yesterday the boy went out & he hasn’t come back until now. So please go out & find him for me.”

So Abdullah ibn Muhammad went out in search of the boy. After a period of time, he came on top of a hill. In the horizon he noticed vultures circling. Abdullah knew that vultures only circle around a dead body.

Abdullah went to that area,& found the dead body of the small boy. A wolf had attacked him, killed him & eaten most of his body. Abdullah looked at the corpse & wondered, “How do I go back & tell this old man who has nothing in this world, that the only person he did have has been eaten by a wolf?”

Abdullah thought of not going back to the old man, However, he couldn’t bring himself to do that. So, he started making his way back to the old man & on the way, Abdullah remembered about the Prophet of Allah, Ayyub, alayhi salam. He entered the tent.

Abdullah greeted him.

Old man: “Where did u find him?” (He was very sure that the boy had been found.)

Abdullah: “I will ask u a question first. Who is more beloved to Allah, u or His Prophet Ayyub?”

Old man: “No doubt it is Prophet Ayyub.”

Abdullah: “Then who has had a more difficult test, u or His prophet Ayyub?”

Old man: “No doubt His prophet Ayyub"

Abdullah: “Seek the reward then from Allah. I have found ur boy on the top of the hill; the wolf had found him, attacked him, & eaten him.”

Old man: “La hawla wa laa quwwata illa billah. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raajioon. Ash-shadu alla ilaha illa Allah.” (There is no power or might except with Allah. Indeed to Allah we belong & to Him is our return. I testify that none is worthy of worship but Allah.)

Aиϑ the man kept repeating these phrases over & over again. He kept remembering Allah & then starting taking deep breaths. Abdullah felt as though the man would die. He picked up the man’s head & kept giving him water.

The man kept repeating Ash-shadu alla ilaha illa Allah, Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raajioon (I testify that none is worthy of worship but Allah. Indeed to Allah we belong & to Him is our return) until he finally died.

Abdullah ibn Muhammad waited until he found a group of travellers along that valley. He asked their help in washing the body, wrapping it in the burial shroud & to dig a grave for that man. They buried the man & prayed Janazah over him.

Abdullah thereafter went on in his journey. That night he saw the old man in a vision. The old man was looking good, in excellent health & condition. In the dream Abdullah conversed with the man.

Abdullah: “How did u get to here? How did u become better? How did u change so much?”

Old man: “My Lord entered me into Paradise & it was said to me, ‘Peace be unto u for what u have been patient upon,& what a good end u got.’

That is the story of an old man. Someone whose name we do not know, who was hardly known, & who hardly had a life to live. Aиϑ yet, one of the righteous men of our ummah was given a vision confirming his entry into Paradise. He truly embodied the verse of the Qur'an, If you are thankful, then I will increase you. [Quran 14:7]

(Story mentioned in Siyar a’lam an-Nubula by Imam adh-Dhahabi. Collected from a talk by Shaykh Kamal el-Makki from the United States.)
🍃🌹🍃🌹🍃🌹🍃🌹🍃🌹