The Faithful Farmer and the Stranger
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Assalamu Alaikum, today I am telling you a very old tale. It is a true story that dates back to the times before the Holy Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
Once upon a time there was a faithful man, a very good, pure and prayerful person and a dedicated farmer. Although he loved to eat, he would never do it without serving others first. If a guest came, he would first serve food to the guest before eating himself, even if thereafter he remained hungry. His wife would say: "Don't do this. You should not remain hungry." One day he did not eat for two or three days even as no guest came to him, but he continued working in his fields. All of a sudden, he saw a black man running and called him: "Brother, stop" as his wife had just brought him food. As the man did not stop, he shouted again: "Brother, stop." As the farmer run after the stranger, he [suddenly] stopped and said: "It will cost you dearly to have stopped me." As he was [finally] eating a piece of bread, a [fatal] tragedy happened and one of the farmer's sons fell into a hole. Yet, the farmer remained calm and praised Allah. As the guest took a second bite, the second son fell into the hole, but the man continued praising Allah. At this stage the stranger said: "I am not taking another bite of food these two bites are enough for me" . But the farmer insisted him to take a third one. As he did so, the farmer's wife died and when he took the fourth bite, the farmer's ox deceased. Subsequently, the stranger left and the farmer went to the [nearby] forest where he started living and only did what Allah commanded him to do and was very happy with his life.
One day, he saw a lion coming towards him. Before the time of the Holy Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), during the time of the previous holy prophets, such [wild] animals used to talk to humans. The lion came and asked him: "Why are you sitting around so sadly?" The farmer didn't tell him [what he had gone through], but simply replied: "No problem, nothing to worry about." When the lion became friends with him, he asked him about his name. The lion replied: "My name is Abu Haris." When Allah commanded, he would take him for a ride, but the farmer did not know that this was a ride to heaven.
One day, [the lion] came and said, "Friend, let's go today. I will take you for a ride." The farmer replied: "No, my friend, I am not going anywhere. I am only here for Allah. Please be reminded that I have to stay here" , he added. But Abu Haris said: "No, no, come with me, sit on me, ride, and I will take you around. Blindfold yourself, only when I tell you, open your eyes again. The farmer got on top of the lion, sat down, blindfolded himself, and they left. [After a long while] Abu Haris told the farmer to open his eyes. As he did it, he saw a beautiful garden, with many beautiful fruit trees, a garden full of fruit, a lovely place. The farmer asked Abu Haris where he was. "Where have you brought me after this long journey? Abu Haris replied: "This is paradise, I have brought you to paradise to show you what you merit, this is the reward for your good deeds [on earth]. When a servant of Allah came to you hungry, you fed him, without hesitation. This was your test, and you passed it. Allah was watching, and He saw your unwavering trust in Him. The one who was running away was not a man. It was destiny, she was running away. You were so good. If no one came, it was because of that destiny. Allah Almighty had put you on test about what will my creature do, so you stopped him. When [the first] of your sons fell you thanked Allah: "Praise be to Allah" , when the second one fell, you kept thanking Allah and were not worried. You said it is all [coming] from Allah. You did not feed a man, but you fed destiny! At this moment, the farmer became very happy, looked around in paradise, and saw a rose plant with a big flower. Under the shade of this big rose flower, in paradise, he saw his wife reciting the Holy Quran. He looked around in paradise and saw his two sons eating and ahead there was his ox. Finally, the farmer got very happy and said: "Thanks to Allah, I have seen all of this" , and he thanked Allah again.
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2.9.4.1
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