Gardens of the Righteous — Page 108
108. GARDENS OF THE RIGHTEOUS away its face. All that is left of it is like the few drops left at the bottom of a vessel after the water in it has been drunk. That is what the worldly ones are drinking. You will surely be transferred from it to a home which will not be subject to decline. Then make sure that you proceed thither with the best you have. We have been told that a stone dropped from the edge of hell will continue to fall for seventy years without reaching bottom. Yet it will be filled. . Then do you wonder at it? We have also been told that the distance between the two leaves of the gate of Paradise is equal to a journey extending over forty years, yet a day will come when it will be choked with people. I recall being one of seven people with the Holy Prophet when our only food was leaves of trees whereby the sides of our mouths had been cut open. I had procured a sheet which I cut in two and shared it with Sa'ad ibn Malik. Each of us converted our piece into a loin-cloth. Today every one of us is governor of a city. I seek the protection of Allah against counting myself great and being small in the sight of. Allah (Muslim). 502. Abu Musa Ash'ari relates: Ayesha showed us a sheet and a thick loin-cloth and told us that the Holy Prophet was wearing them when he died (Bokhari and Muslim). 503. Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqas relates: I am the first Arab who shot an arrow in the cause of Allah. We fought along with the Holy Prophet when our only food was the leaves of wild trees. The stools of some of us were like the droppings of goats (Bokhari and Muslim). 504. Abu Hurairah relates that the Holy Prophet used to supplicate: Allah, make the provision of the family of Muhammad that which suffices (Bokhari and Muslim). 505. Abu Hurairah relates: By Him save Whom there is none worthy of worship, I used to press my stomach against the earth out of hunger, or I would tie a stone over it. One day I was sitting along the common path when the Holy. Prophet passed by me. He smiled when he saw me and recognised from my face the condition I was in. Then he called me and I responded: At your service,. Messenger of Allah. He said: Keep by me: and walked on, and I followed him. . Arrived at home, he asked for leave and entered and gave me leave and I too entered. He found milk in a cup and inquired: Where is this from? He was told:. It is a present for you from So and So. He called me and I responded: At your service, Messenger of Allah. He said: Go to the Company of the Lounge and bring them in. Abu Hurairah explains that the Company of the Lounge were men who had no family, no property, no relations. They were the guests of the Muslims. . When the Holy Prophet received anything for charity he sent it to them and did not retain anything out of it for himself. When he received a gift he sent for them and shared it with them. On this occasion I resented his sending for them. I said to myself: What will this milk amount to among so many? I am more deserving of it than anyone else, so that by drinking it I might gain some strength. When they come he will command me to give it to them. I do not expect that anything will reach me out of this milk. But there was no escape from obeying Allah and His