Hazrat Wahidi (Rah) narrates:
I had two close friends. One belonged to the Hashimi clan, and the other was a non-Hashimi. The three of us shared an incredibly deep bond of friendship.
The Trial of Eid
Once, as the Eid festival approached, I was struck by severe poverty. Seeing our condition, my wife said to me:
“Eid is just around the corner, and we are not in a position to buy new clothes for our children. While other children are buying and enjoying high-quality clothes and finery for the festival, our children are left wearing old, tattered rags. If you can manage to bring something from somewhere, please do. It deeply grieves my heart to see our children longing for new clothes.”
Hearing my wife’s heartbreaking words, I wrote a letter to my Hashimi friend, explaining my dire financial state. Immediately, he sent back a sealed pouch along with a reply:
“There are one thousand dirhams in this bag. Please use it to fulfill your needs.”
The Test of Selflessness
As soon as that money pouch reached my hands, I received a letter from my second friend. Coincidentally, just as I had written to my Hashimi friend, he too had written to me detailing his own urgent financial distress. Without a second thought, I forwarded the money pouch to him, exactly as it was, with the seal completely intact.
Feeling too ashamed to face my wife empty-handed and lacking the courage to return home, I went to the mosque. I stayed there for two consecutive days and nights. On the third day, I finally returned home and confessed everything to my wife.
Upon hearing the news, that noble woman did not show even a shred of anger or disappointment. Instead, she genuinely appreciated my action and said, “What you did was absolutely right and noble!”
The Mystery of the Sealed Pouch
While we were still speaking, my Hashimi friend unexpectedly arrived at my doorstep. In his hand, he was holding the exact same sealed money pouch that I had sent away to my second friend!
He looked at me and asked, “What is the story behind this pouch? Please tell me the truth.” I narrated the entire chain of events to him.
My Hashimi friend smiled in amazement and explained:
“When your letter reached me, I had absolutely nothing else in the world except this single pouch of money. After sending it to you, I found myself in need, so I wrote a letter to our third friend asking for financial help. In response, he sent me this very same bag!
I was utterly astonished when I saw it. I knew I had sent this pouch to you, so I couldn’t comprehend how it ended up with our third friend. I came here today just to solve this mystery.”
The Reward of Generosity
We then opened the pouch. We gave 100 dirhams to my wife, and the remaining 900 dirhams were shared equally among the three of us.
Word of this incredible display of mutual sacrifice eventually reached Caliph Ma’mun al-Rashid. He summoned me to his court and asked for the full details of the incident. Deeply moved by our story, the Caliph rewarded us with a grand gift of 7,000 dirhams, which we distributed as follows:
- 2,000 dirhams to Hazrat Waqidi
- 2,000 dirhams to the Hashimi friend
- 2,000 dirhams to the non-Hashimi friend
- 1,000 dirhams to Hazrat Waqidi’s noble wife
