The Story of the Blind Man and His Calamity

I am truly astonished at people who are tried: how is it that they do not seek help against their misfortunes through patience and by recalling the reward they hope to receive? For a day will surely come upon the afflicted when he will wish for what the blind man wished for in his ordeal.

They asked, “And what did the blind man wish for in his misfortune?”

Antonius replied, “They report that a merchant once buried one hundred dinars in a certain spot. A neighbor noticed the cache and took it. When the merchant discovered the loss he was overwhelmed with grief. Years passed until he became blind and fell into desperate need.

“When death approached the neighbor, he feared the Reckoning, so he instructed that the hundred dinars be returned to the blind man. The money was given back to him and the whole story was related. The blind man rejoiced with a joy he had never experienced before and exclaimed, ‘Praise be to Allah who restored it to me at the very moment I needed it most! Would that every sum of money I owned back then had been taken from me and then returned to me today. Whoever knows that he has a righteous deed to his credit ought to be certain that he will encounter it on the day he needs it most.’”