Chapter IV: Poverty and Renunciation
Greedy poor and greedy rich man. Who is better among these two? When a man searches wealth and makes efforts to acquire it and then wealth comes to him, two conditions appear before him — when he has no wealth and when he has wealth. If he earns wealth up to the necessity of his livelihood and walks in the path of religion, it is better for him to earn such amount of wealth because poverty will keep him engage in earning wealth and prevent him from remembering God. For this reason the Prophet used to pray: O God, give me provision necessary for maintenance of Muhammad's family. He said : Poverty brings one near infidelity. The meaning of this poverty is such pressing want the removal of which is necessary for a man. If the object of earnings is not for treading the path of virtues, then poverty is better than riches as both are equal in the love of wealth and both do not abstain from committing sin. The Prophet said ; The Holy Spirit has infused into my mind: Love what you wish but you shall have to leave it. There is warning herein that separation from dear things is very painful. So love One from whom there is no separation. He is God, the Merciful. You should not love one whom you shall have to leave. That is the world. When you will love the world, you will not love to meet with God. If you die in that state, you shall have to leave it and you will get pain in proportion to your love for it. Now it is clear to you that poverty is better and more honorable than riches.
Two exceptions: There are two exceptions to the above proportions. The first is to have riches like that of Hazrat Ayesha.
To her it was equal to possess wealth or not to posses it, rather to have wealth was more beneficial to her than not to have wealth because she gave away all her wealth to the poor and the needy.
The second exception is to have wealth less than what is absolutely necessary, as it leads to infidelity. It is in no circumstances better. He should have such wealth as can save his life and give strength in him and as can keep him far away from infidelity and sin. This is the meaning of poverty and riches. .
The duties of the poor in poverty. The duties of the poor at the time of their poverty are secret, opens and connected with works. (1) The hidden duty is not to be dissatisfied with the
160 THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES Vol-IV