Pleasant Stories & Anecdotes — Page 22
22 Boasting About Not Committing a Sin A story was narrated to me by someone, and it is true. A person invited someone to a feast. He treated his guest lav- ishly. When the guest finished his meal, the host said to him with humbleness and humility, ‘I could not serve you according to your status. I hope you will forgive me’. The guest thought that the host was boasting about his favour. He said, ‘I have also done a great favour to you. You do not rec- ognize it!’ The host asked what favour his guest bestowed on him. The guest said, ‘While you were busy preparing meal, I could have set your house on fire. I did a great favour to you by not set- ting it on fire’. This is an example of an evil deed that he did not cause griev- ous harm by burning his house. Some people boast about not committing evil. Such people are like animals. In the eyes of God, only those people are worthy of honour which do not boast about not committing evil; rather, they do not boast even about doing a good deed. (Malf ūzā t, vol. 8, p. 378) Respecting Even a Fake Mendicant It is narrated that a fire worshipper sat at one place for forty years worshipping fire. After forty years, when he rose from that place, people started using dirt from under his feet to cure eye infections.