'No. What did you do?' He said: 'My affairs have all been completed except for one thing; a certain woman has lost her husband, so I gave her a dowry of one thousand dinars, and she came to me with it and as much again with it.' The believer said to him: 'Did you really do that?'
He said: 'Yes.' He said: So the believer returned, and when it was night, he prayed as much as Allah willed him to pray. When he finished, he took the remaining one thousand dinars, placed them before him, and said: 'O Allah, such-and-such person—meaning his disbelieving partner—has married a wife from the wives of the world, and he will die tomorrow and leave her, or she will die and leave him. O Allah, I seek in marriage from You with these one thousand dinars a fair, wide-eyed maiden in Paradise.' Then he woke up and distributed it among the poor. He said: The believer was left with nothing. He said: So he wore a cotton shirt and a wool cloak, then took a mattock and placed it on his shoulder, working at something and digging something for his sustenance. He said:
A man came to him and said: 'O servant of Allah, will you hire yourself out to me on a monthly basis, month by month, to tend to my beasts, feed them, and sweep their dung?' He said: 'Yes.' He said: So he hired himself out to him on a monthly basis, month by month, tending to his beasts. He said: The owner of the beasts would go out every day to look at his beasts; if he saw one of them gaunt, he would take him by the head, strike his neck, and then say to him: 'Did you steal the barley of this one last night?' When the believer saw this severity, he said: 'I shall surely go to my disbelieving partner, work on his land, so he may feed me this morsel a day, and clothe me with these two garments when they wear out.' He said: So he set out to find him, and when he reached his door, it was dusk. Behold, there was a lofty palace reaching into the sky, and around him were the gatekeepers. He said to them: 'Seek permission for me from the owner of this palace, for if you do that, it will please him.'
They said to him: 'Go, if you are truthful, then sleep in a corner, and when morning comes, present yourself to him.' He said: So the believer went, cast half of his cloak beneath him and half over him, and slept. When he woke up in the morning, he came to his partner and presented himself to him. His disbelieving partner came out riding; when he saw him, he recognized him, stopped for him, greeted him, and shook his hand. Then he said: 'Did you not take from the wealth as I did?' He said: 'Yes, and this is my condition and this is your condition?' He said: 'Relate to me, what did you do with your wealth?' He said: 'Do not ask me about it.' He said: 'Then what brought you?'
He said: 'I have come to work on this land of yours, so you may feed me this morsel from day to day, and clothe me with these two garments when they wear out.' He said: 'No, rather I will do for you what is better than this, but you shall see no good from me until you tell me what you did with your wealth?' He said: 'I loaned it out.' He said: 'To whom?' He said: 'To the Rich, the Faithful.'
He said: 'Who?' He said: 'Allah, my Lord.' He said—and he was shaking his hand—so he pulled his hand away from his, then said: 'Are you indeed of those who believe? When we have died and become dust and bones, are we to be recompensed?' Al-Suddi said: 'Held to account.' He said:
