274 – ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; he said: Ahmad b. Ibrahim b. Kathir al-ʿAbdi narrated to us; he said: Khallaf b. Tamim narrated to me; he said: Ismaʿil b. Ibrahim b. Muhajir narrated to us; he said: I heard my father relate it from Mujahid, who said:

“A certain king, to whom a long life had been granted, kept very strict gatekeepers. He remarked, ‘Only a few of my subjects even recognize me. What if I travelled through the land to hear what the people say and what they complain about?’

He therefore told his chamberlain, ‘Let no one come in to me, and inform them that I am ill.’

The king then set out and stopped at the house of a man who owned a single cow that produced as much milk as thirty cows. The king admired it and said, ‘If I were to take this cow, its milk would equal the milk of thirty cows.’

The next morning the cow’s yield had fallen by a third. The king asked its owner, ‘Tell me about your cow: did you graze her in a place unfamiliar to her, or let her drink somewhere new?’ ⦗181⦘

The man replied, ‘No. Rather, I believe the king merely entertained the thought of wrongdoing, and so her blessing departed.’

The king said, ‘And how could you possibly know that?’

He answered, ‘I am telling you the plain truth: whenever a king even contemplates injustice, the blessing vanishes.’

Thereupon the king vowed to his Lord never to take the cow. Because of the king’s justice, her milk returned to its former abundance, and he declared, ‘Do I not see that whenever a king intends to oppress, the blessing disappears?’”