Aslam

It is narrated that Moses went to meet his Lord and found a man under His Throne. Seeing his high rank, there grew a spirit of rivalry in his mind and he asked his Lord: What is the name of this man? God did not 'communicate his name but said: I will inform you about his three good deeds-(l) he does not envy for nay gift of God on man, (2) he does not become disobedient to his parents, (3) he does not roam with slander. Prophet Zaoharia said: God says: An envious man is enemy of My gifts, dissatisfied with God's decree, and dissatisfied with the division of My gifts which I have distributed among My servants. The Prophet said:
The greatest of what I fear for my followers is the increase of their wealth for which they will envy one another and quarrel with one another. The Prophet said: Pray for help for fulfillment of secret necessities, as every wealthy man is an object of envy. The Prophet said: Six persons will enter Hell before accounts are taken each for one sin. The companions asked: O Prophet of God, who are they? He said: (1) A ruler for his oppression, (2) a desert Arab for his unjust love for his tribe, (3) a rich man for his pride, (4) a village man for his foolishness, (5) and a learned man for his envy.

A STORY OF ENVY

A man approached a king and said: Treat good with a religious man for his good works and release the wicked as his evil deeds are sufficient as a punishment for him, A certain courtier of the king grew envious of another courtier seeing his fortunes. He complained against that man to the king saying that he had defamed the king as he had a very offensive smell of mouth. The king said: How can I know that it i9 true? He said:
You can know it when the man will place his hand on his nose.
He then invited the man to his house and gave him fresh onion to eat with meal. After eating, the man went to the king and fearing bad adore of onion from his mouth placed his hand on his mouth and nose. The king was then convinced of the truth of the statement of the man and sent him with a letter to his governor to put him to deat'i. On the way the envious man requested the

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Vol-HI Anger, hatred and envy 147

religious man to hand over the letter to him thinking that it contained words of rewards. Accordingly, the letter was handed over to the envious man who took the letter to the governor.
When the governor got the letter, he at once put him to death. The religious man went next day to the king as usual, but the latter was surprised to see him alive and asked him about his letter. He said that he handed it over to another man. The king asked him why he closed his mouth and placed his hand over his nose at the time of his interview with him. He said that the man had invited him and gave him meal with fresh onion. So for fear of bad smell, he placed his hand over his mouth and nose. The king said:
Sufficient is the wrong deed of a person for his punishment.

WHAT IS ENVY?