An Islamic Treasury of Virtues
5. Piety
~ 146 ~
GIVING UP THIS WORLD FOR THE NEXT
When it was time to give a meal to some visitors
from Iraq, Umar, the second Caliph brought them a
bowl of food-some coarse bread and olive oil-and
requested them to eat. Slowly reluctantly-they
complied. Seeing what tiny morsels they were
taking, Umar said to them, “You know, if I wished,
I could also prepare for myself fine, rich food of the
kind to which you are accustomed. But it is our
practice here to be sparing of things in this world so
that we may receive them in the next. Have you not
seen how Almighty God has chastised a people for
having received good things in their worldly life?”
By another account, Umar asked them what they
wanted: “Things which are sweet and spicy, hot
and cold? Whatever you eat will go to waste in your
stomachs.”
(HILYAT AL-AULIYA)
SELFLESSNESS IN WORLDLY MATTERS
Younus ibn Maysirah once observed: “Denying
oneself lawful things is not the essence of
abstinence. Neither is it ridding oneself of wealth.
