An old man, wearing tattered and worn-out clothes, entered the mosque. He was so frail and weak that he could barely stand. The Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who had just completed the Asr prayer, greeted him warmly and inquired about his condition.
The old man replied, “O Messenger of Allah, I am hungry; please feed me. I am unclothed; please clothe me. I am destitute; please help me.”
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “I possess nothing to give you, but whoever guides others to goodness is like the one who performs that goodness himself. Go to the house of someone who loves Allah and His Messenger, and Allah and His Messenger love her. She prefers Allah over herself. Go to the house of Fatimah.”
The old man, accompanied by Bilal al-Habashi, a close companion of the Prophet, went to the house of Lady Fatimah (peace be upon her). As soon as they arrived, he called out loudly, “Peace be upon you, O family of the Prophet, the place where angels come and go, and where Gabriel, the trustworthy spirit, descends with the Qur’an from the Lord of all worlds…”
Lady Fatimah (peace be upon her) responded, “And peace be upon you. Who are you?”
He said, “I am an old Bedouin from a far-off land. I came to your father, the Prophet, and I am naked and hungry. Please help me; may Allah have mercy on you.”
Lady Fatimah (peace be upon her) took a tanned sheepskin that her sons, Hasan and Husayn (peace be upon them), used as a bed and handed it to him, saying, “Take this, O guest of ours. Perhaps Allah will grant you something better than this.”
The Bedouin said, “O daughter of the Prophet of Allah, I complain to you of hunger, and you give me a sheepskin? What will I do with this while I am starving?”
Upon hearing his words, Lady Fatimah (peace be upon her) removed a necklace that her cousin had gifted her. She handed it to the man and said, “Take this and sell it. I hope Allah will provide you with something better.”
The Bedouin took the necklace and went back to the mosque, where he said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), “O Messenger of Allah! Your daughter Fatimah gave me this necklace and told me to sell it to address my needs.”
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wept and said, “How could Allah not resolve your issues when Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad, the lady of the daughters of Adam, has given you this?”
Ammar ibn Yasir, one of the Prophet’s close companions, stood up and said, “O Messenger of Allah, do you permit me to buy this necklace?” The Prophet allowed it, and Ammar said to the Bedouin, “I will give you twenty dinars, two hundred dirhams, a Yemeni garment, and a mount for your journey. Additionally, I will provide you with wheat and meat to fill your stomach.”
The Bedouin exclaimed, “O man, how generous you are!”
After purchasing the necklace, Ammar perfumed it with musk, wrapped it in a Yemeni cloak, and handed it to his servant, Sahm, saying, “Take this necklace to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and present yourself as his servant.”
Sahm delivered the necklace to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), relaying Ammar’s message. The Prophet then said, “Take this necklace to Fatimah and give it to her…”
Thus, the selfless act of giving a necklace brought about so many blessings and, in the end, returned to its rightful owner. This is the true essence of sincere sacrifice[1].
(Adapted from the book Fatimah al-Zahra: The Delight of the Prophet’s Heart by Hujjat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen Rahmani Hamadani, with slight modifications)[2].
Footnotes:
[1] Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 43, p. 56
[2] The above text is derived from the Persian translation of the book by Hujjat al-Islam Iftikharzadeh.