The Leper, the Bald Man, and the Blind Man
The Leper, the Bald Man, and the Blind Man
Three men were tested with poverty and illness... then their afflictions were removed, and the true nature of each man was revealed.
There were three men.
They were not united by family, place, or circumstance. What united them were their trials.
One of them was a leper. People were repelled by his appearance and kept their distance from him.
The second was bald. He had lost his hair, and people avoided him because of it.
The third was blind. He could not see anything.
Three men. Three different afflictions. And severe poverty.
But Allah wanted to test them.
So He sent an angel to them.
First: The Leper
The angel came to the leper in the condition he had been in and said:
“What would you like most?”
The man replied:
“A good complexion, good skin, and for this condition that makes people avoid me to be taken away.”
The angel touched him...
The leprosy disappeared, and his skin and complexion were restored.
Then the angel asked him:
“What kind of wealth do you like most?”
He replied:
“Camels.”
So he was given a pregnant she-camel.
Then the angel said:
“May Allah bless it for you.”
And he left.
Second: The Bald Man
Then the angel came to the bald man and said:
“What would you like most?”
He replied:
“Beautiful hair, and for this condition that makes people avoid me to be taken away.”
The angel touched him...
His baldness disappeared, and Allah blessed him with beautiful hair.
Then the angel asked him:
“What kind of wealth do you like most?”
He replied:
“Cattle.”
So he was given a pregnant cow.
The angel said:
“May Allah bless it for you.”
Then he left.
Third: The Blind Man
Then the angel came to the blind man.
He said:
“What would you like most?”
The man replied:
“That Allah would restore my sight, so that I may see people.”
The angel touched him...
And Allah restored his sight.
Then the angel asked him:
“What kind of wealth do you like most?”
He replied:
“Sheep.”
So he was given a pregnant ewe.
The angel said:
“May Allah bless it for you.”
And the Years Passed...
The lives of the three men changed.
Their livestock multiplied, their wealth increased, and their days of poverty and illness became days of prosperity and comfort.
The first man now had a valley filled with camels.
The second had a valley filled with cattle.
And the third had a valley filled with sheep.
They were no longer the men they had once been.
But...
The real test had not yet begun.
After their circumstances had completely changed, the angel returned to them.
But this time, he came to them in the form of the people they had once been.
The Test
First, he went to the leper.
He said:
“I am a poor traveler. My means have been exhausted during my journey, and I have no way to continue except through Allah and then through you.
I ask you, by the One who gave you your beautiful complexion, your beautiful skin, and your wealth...
Give me one camel so that I may continue my journey.”
But the man had changed.
He replied:
“I have many responsibilities, and what I owe leaves me with nothing to spare.”
The angel said:
“Perhaps I recognize you...
Were you not once a leper whom people avoided?
Were you not poor, and then Allah gave you wealth?”
The man replied:
“I only inherited this wealth from my forefathers.”
He denied that what he possessed was a blessing from Allah and claimed that he had simply inherited it from his ancestors.
The angel said:
“If you are lying, then may Allah return you to the condition you were in before.”
Then he left him.
Then It Was the Bald Man's Turn
The angel went to the bald man in his former appearance and said the same words:
He was a poor traveler whose means had been exhausted and who had no one to help him.
Then he said:
“I ask you, by the One who gave you beautiful hair and wealth...
Give me one cow so that I may continue my journey.”
But the man answered just as his companion had.
The angel said:
“Perhaps I recognize you...
Were you not once bald, whom people avoided?
Were you not poor, and then Allah gave you wealth?”
The man replied:
“I only inherited this wealth from my forefathers.”
The angel said:
“If you are lying, then may Allah return you to the condition you were in before.”
Then he left him.
But the Blind Man...
The angel came to him in his former appearance.
A poor traveler whose means had been exhausted, with no one to help him.
He said:
“I ask you, by the One who restored your sight...
Give me one sheep so that I may continue my journey.”
Here...
Everything was different.
The man had not forgotten his past.
He had not forgotten the days when he was blind.
He had not forgotten the poverty he had lived through.
And he had not forgotten the One who had restored his sight.
So he said:
“I was once blind, and Allah restored my sight. I was once poor, and Allah enriched me.”
Then he said:
“Take whatever you wish, and leave whatever you wish. By Allah, I will not make things difficult for you today because of anything you take for the sake of Allah.”
At that moment, the angel revealed his true identity.
He said:
“Keep your wealth. You have all been tested. Allah is pleased with you and angry with your two companions.”
And the test was over.
But What Did the Test Reveal?
The test was not merely about wealth.
All three men had been given health after illness.
All three had been given wealth after poverty.
All three had known weakness and need.
But when their lives changed...
Their hearts changed as well.
Two of them forgot the past.
They forgot the illness.
They forgot the poverty.
And they forgot that the blessings they possessed had come from Allah.
But the third man...
He did not forget.
He remembered that he had once been blind, and Allah had restored his sight.
He remembered that he had once been poor, and Allah had enriched him.
Therefore, when he was asked to give something from his wealth, he did not see it as a loss.
He saw himself as giving from a blessing Allah had bestowed upon him.
And that was the outcome.
Wealth did not reveal the true nature of these men... the test did.
A person may be tested with poverty.
He may be tested with illness.
He may be tested with weakness.
But sometimes the greater test comes when the doors of this world open before him.
When he becomes wealthy after being poor.
Strong after being weak.
Healthy after being ill.
When he receives what he spent years asking Allah for...
And then forgets the One who gave it to him.
So the true blessing is not simply having a lot.
It is knowing...
Who gave you what you have.
And remaining mindful of your days of weakness, grateful for Allah’s blessings, and compassionate toward those who are still enduring the very trial from which Allah has delivered you.