Pleasant Stories & Anecdotes — Page 40
40 been falling incessantly for six or seven days now and so I am feed- ing the birds some grain. ’ ‘You do so in vain,’ said the noble man, ‘You are a disbe- liever, what reward can you attain for such action?’ The old man responded, ‘I will surely receive my reward. ’ The noble man relates that he went for Hajj and saw the same old man circuiting the Ka‘bah from a distance. The noble man was astonished to see this and relates that when he approached him, the old man was first to say: ‘Did my feeding seeds to the birds go in vain or have I received my reward?’ Now one ought to reflect that Allah the Almighty did not even waste the good deed of a disbeliever, then would He let the virtuous deed of a Muslim go in vain? (Malf ūzā t, vol. 1, p. 74) Inviting a Noble The word muttaqī [righteous] implies the abandonment of evil, while the word mu h sin alludes to the doing of good. I have read an anecdote in this regard. A noble man invited someone to join him for food, and he made all the arrangements for his hospitality and truly did justice in this respect. When they had finished eating, the noble man said with great humility: ‘I have not been able to serve you as you deserve. ’ The guest responded: ‘Indeed, you have done no favour upon me; in fact, it is I who have done a favour upon you, because when