Pleasant Stories & Anecdotes — Page 4
4 would be uncomfortable. I stood the whole night with the glass of water. I gave her the water when she woke up in the morning. O Allah! Remove my difficulty if You liked my virtuous act’. The rock then moved enough to let them escape. The Almighty Allah rewarded all of them for their virtuous deeds. (Malfū z āt, vol. 6, p. 26–27) The Conduct of Godly Men I am reminded of an anecdote written by Sa‘dī in his book Būstān , in which he states that once a noble man was bitten by a dog. When he returned home, his home-folk noticed the dog bite. A simple and innocent girl who was present said: ‘Why did you not bite the dog in revenge?’ The man responded: ‘Humans cannot behave like dogs. ’ Similarly, when a person is abused and cursed by a wretch, it is incumbent upon a believer to abstain from responding in kind. Otherwise, this example of dog- like behaviour shall be applicable to such people. The beloved of God have been abused with the worst of invec- tives and are grieved in the worst possible manner. However, they were always addressed in the following words: 1 َ ن ْ ع�َ ن ِ ال�ْج َاهِل�ِي� ن وَأَعْر�ِ (Malf ūzā t, vol. 1, p. 103) 1. Turn away from the ignorant ( S u rah al-A‘r ā f, 7:200). [Publisher]