As for the third man, he sought nearness to Allah—exalted is He—through his trustworthiness, fairness, and sincerity in work. He once hired a group of laborers for a certain task and paid all of them their wages, save for one man who left without taking what was due to him. The employer then invested that abandoned wage, trading with it in buying and selling and the like, until the capital multiplied and produced camels, cattle, sheep, servants, and a sizeable fortune.

After some time the laborer returned and said, “Servant of Allah, give me my wage.” The employer replied, “Everything you see is yours—these camels, cattle, sheep, and servants.” The man protested, “Do not ridicule me. My wage with you was small; how can all that I see—camels, cattle, sheep, and servants—belong to me? Do not mock me!” The employer answered, “It is all yours.” The man then took everything and drove it away, leaving the employer nothing at all.

The employer thereupon supplicated: “O Allah, if I did that solely for Your sake, relieve us of the distress we are in.” The rock split open, the entrance was cleared, and they walked out—because they had sought Allah’s aid through the righteous deeds they had performed purely for Him.

This hadith offers numerous lessons and points of reflection. First, it highlights the excellence of dutifulness to one’s parents; it is among the righteous deeds by which hardships are lifted and darkness dispelled.

Second, it extols chastity and abstention from fornication. When a person refrains from adultery despite having the ability to commit it, that is one of the finest deeds. Indeed, it is authentically reported from the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—that such a person is among the seven whom Allah will shade in His shade on the Day when there is no shade but His: “A man whom a woman of rank and beauty invites, and he says, ‘I fear Allah.’”