and he takes hold of whatever benefits him, while he all the more refuses anything that would harm him. Hence renunciation (zuhd) is a loftier state than cautious scrupulousness (waraʿ); every renunciant is scrupulous, but not every scrupulous person is a renunciant.

Nevertheless, the Prophet ﷺ warned that the life of this world might be laid open before us as it was before those who preceded us, and that we would be destroyed just as they were.

When Abū ʿUbaydah returned from Bahrain with a sum of money and the Anṣār heard of it, they came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and met him at the dawn prayer. After he concluded the prayer, they drew near to him, and he smiled—that is, he laughed without sound—because he perceived how eager they were for the money.

He asked, “Perhaps you have heard of Abū ʿUbaydah’s arrival from Bahrain?” They said, “Indeed, O Messenger of Allah, we heard and have come hoping for our share.”

He replied, “It is not poverty that I fear for you.” In other words, poverty itself does not worry me.

Poverty may in fact be better for a person. In the sacred narration reported by the Prophet ﷺ, Allah says: “Among My servants are those whom, were I to enrich them, wealth would ruin—causing them to transgress, go astray, and turn away from the Hereafter. And among My servants are those whom, were I to impoverish them, poverty would ruin them.”

Thus the Prophet ﷺ said again, “It is not poverty that I fear for you,” meaning he did not fear poverty for them, for the poor are usually closer to the truth than the wealthy.

Consider the messengers—peace be upon them all: who denies them? It is the arrogant, wicked elite who are rich, while most of their followers are the poor. Even with our Prophet ﷺ, the majority of those who followed him were poor.