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BLESSINGS FROM AN UNEXPECTED SOURCE

564

“A man was walking through a barren piece of land when he heard a voice coming from a cloud saying, ‘Water the garden of so and so.’ Thereupon the cloud floated in a certain direction and showered its rain over a rocky piece of land. Streams of water began to flow into a large canal, so the man followed the canal and found it circling a garden. There he saw the owner of the garden standing in its midst using his spade to spread the water.

The man asked him, ‘Worshiper of Allah, what is your name?’ So he told him his name, which was the same as he had heard from the cloud. The owner of the garden then asked the man: ‘Worshiper of Allah, why did you ask me my name?’ The man replied, ‘I heard a voice coming from the cloud from which this water fell, saying: Water the garden of so and so, may I know what you do with it?’ He answered, ‘As you have asked me, I will tell you. When the produce of the garden is ready I give one third of it in charity. I use one third for my family and myself and use the remaining third to sow another crop.’”

Muslim with a chain up to Abu Hurairah who related that the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, said this.