during the day, so that the poor would not come and eat. So they came during the day, harvested the dates, and brought them into his house.

As for the other man, he made an announcement at the mosque door, saying that he would harvest his date palms during the day after Eid al-Fitr: whoever wished to come was most welcome—or, as he put it, “May Allah welcome him.” When the people had broken their fast, and they were suffering severe hunger at that time, the poor, having completed Ramadan and reached the following day, went to this man. They began harvesting the dates, eating, and satisfying their hunger.

Glory be to Allah, the Magnificent! Yet he brought home a larger load than his partner, who had harvested during the daytime in Ramadan. The first partner—the one who had been given the choice—then claimed that he had been wronged and that there had been an error in the division. The other replied, “We divided everything, I gave you the choice, and you chose.” They then brought the matter before the judge. He asked them, “What happened?” They told him the story, and he said to the one who had harvested his dates during Ramadan, “Praise be to Allah that your dates did not become shrivelled and worthless.” This resembles the story of the owners of the garden.