The Honest Farmer and the Lost Purse

It is told that there was a poor farmer named Hasan who lived with his wife and his little daughter in a small hut at the edge of the village. He had a small field where he grew wheat and vegetables, and he worked in it from dawn till evening. People loved him because he was truthful and trustworthy: he never lied and never took what wasn't his.

One year there was little rain, the crops grew weak, and Hasan could find only a little food. One day he picked up a basket with a few vegetables and set out for the town market to sell them and buy bread for his family with the money.

As he walked along the road, he saw a purse of red leather lying on the ground. He bent down and picked it up, and it was heavy! He opened it and found many gold dinars inside, shining in the sun.

Hasan stood there in amazement. A voice inside him whispered, "Take it, Hasan! No one can see you. You'll buy a beautiful house, a big field and new clothes for your daughter." But Hasan shook his head and said, "Even if no person sees me, Allah sees me. And this money isn't mine. Its owner must be sad right now."

So he closed the purse, put it in his pocket and went on to the market. There he stood in the middle of the crowd and called out loudly, "People of the market! Who has lost a purse? Who has lost something on the road?"

A trickster came up to him and said, "Me! I'm the owner! Give it to me." Hasan said cleverly, "If you're the owner, tell me: what colour is it, and what's inside it?" The man stammered, "It's... it's blue, and there's silver in it." Hasan said, "You're not the owner." And the trickster ran off in shame.

A little later, a dignified old man came, his face full of sadness and weariness, and said, "My son, I've lost a purse of red leather with a hundred gold dinars in it, tied with a green thread. I had saved it to build a well for the people of my village."

Hasan took out the purse, and there was a green thread on it! He gave it to the old man and said, "Here you are, uncle. Count it." The old man counted it and found it complete; not a single dinar was missing.

The old man was overjoyed. He looked at Hasan's old clothes and his little basket and said, "My son, you're poor, and still you gave back all the gold! Take ten dinars as a reward." Hasan said, "Thank you, uncle, but I only did my duty. The people of your village have more right to the well."

The old man was amazed and said, "Tell me about your situation." So Hasan told him about the lack of rain and the weak crops. The old man said, "Listen, my son. I have a big orchard with palm trees and olive trees. I've grown old, and I can't find a trustworthy man to work in it and look after it. Will you work with me, for half the fruit?"

Hasan was delighted. He thanked Allah and ran home to tell his wife and daughter. His wife said, "Alhamdulillah! Honesty did not let us down."

Hasan worked in the orchard with diligence and sincerity, the fruit grew plentiful, and Allah blessed his provision. The old man built the well for the people of his village, and Hasan was the first to help him dig it.

One day the trickster who had lied in the market came along. He had lost his money and his friends, because people no longer believed him. He asked Hasan for work in the orchard. Hasan said to him, "I'll give you work, on condition that you're truthful." The man worked honestly and learned from Hasan that truthfulness opens doors and lying shuts them. And he became one of the most truthful people in the village.

Whenever people passed by the well and drank its sweet water, they said, "This is the Well of Honesty." And Hasan would say to his daughter, "My little girl, gold goes, but honesty stays. And whoever gives something up for Allah's sake, Allah gives him something better in its place."