نعمة إذا فقدت، عرفت
A famous saying in Arabic which translates to “Blessings are known when they are lost”. You don’t appreciate the shade whilst under it - true appreciation comes when one does not have it. The same could be said for good health, wealth, free-time, family time, and some of these were indeed said by the messenger ﷺ. I couldn’t help but feel this whilst I read this short story.
“and the far more decent path would have been to pursue wealth at all costs.”
This passing thought of Saeed’s father is something that I still grapple with from time to time. Where do I fit in this world - do I pursue my passions of learning, writing and teaching, or do I tread what is “the far more decent path”. Often, this isn’t so much a question of what we value, as it is putting food on the table. Survival. Maybe not all values were created equal, and some values have more of an air of luxury than others.
The path of learning rarely merges with comfort and wealth. Very few in number are those who excelled in knowledge and were comfortable in this world. And yet, it is their names we know 1 and say “May God have mercy on him” to. But if I don’t take the path of learning, maybe I will find comfort by the Hadith of the messenger ﷺ where he says
التاجر الصدوق الأمين مع النبيين والصديقين والشهداء
The honest, trust-worthy trader is with the prophets, the honest and the martyrs
A truly high rank that even the most erudite scholar would snatch off your hands. But before that, they will no doubt point out, that the trader had to have two conditions placed on them, namely honesty and trustworthiness, whilst the true scholars are the inherently, intrinsically, the inheritors of the prophets.
Though Mansa Musa like figures exist, and there were scholars who combined between living comfortably and excellence in both learning, teaching, and Tasawwuf like our Imam Abu Hanifa.↩︎