Israel whom Allah—Mighty and Majestic—had afflicted with bodily ailments: one of them suffered from leprosy, the second was bald with no hair at all, and the third was blind and could not see. Allah, exalted be He, then willed to test and try them, for He tries His servant however He pleases: if He afflicts him with hardship, He observes whether the servant will persevere or grow impatient; and if He grants him prosperity, He observes whether the servant will give thanks or be miserly.

So Allah sent an angel to them. The angel came and asked what each desired most. He began with the leper, saying, “What is dearest to you?” The man replied, “A good complexion, healthy skin, and that the thing which makes people feel repelled by me be taken away.” A person’s foremost wish is to be free of deformities, especially those that people detest. The angel wiped him, and—by Allah’s permission—he was cured: the leprosy left him and he was granted a handsome complexion and healthy skin. The angel then asked, “Which form of wealth is dearest to you?” He answered, “Camels”—or, according to another wording, “cattle.” The apparent meaning is that he said “camels,” for in the story of the bald man cattle were given. The angel therefore handed him a pregnant she-camel and prayed, “May Allah bless it for you.” Thus poverty left him along with his bodily defect, and the angel invoked Allah’s blessing upon that she-camel.

The angel then came to the bald man and said, “What is dearest to you?” He replied, “Fine hair, and that the thing which makes people despise me be removed.” The angel wiped him and he was granted beautiful hair. He was then asked, “Which form of wealth is dearest to you?” He said, “Cattle,” whereupon he was given a pregnant cow and the angel said, “May Allah bless it for you.”

As for the blind man, the angel approached him and asked, “What is dearest to you?” He replied, “That He restore…"