Greed

Contented and greedy people may be compared to two travellers who enter the guest hall of an important person. The first traveller says in his heart: “If he allows me to take shelter from the cold outside, that is enough for me. Even if he offers me the most modest place, I will regard it as a favor.” The second traveller, however, enters proudly, as though he has a right to the best seat and demands it. With arrogant glances he fixes his eyes on the most luxurious chair in the room and tries to claim it for himself. But the host kindly directs him to a simple place. Instead of being grateful, the greedy traveller harbors anger in his heart and criticizes the host. In this way, he falls out of favor with the host.

The first traveller enters the guest hall with humility and desires nothing but to sit in the most modest place. Through his contentment, the host is pleased and says: “Please, take a better seat!” As a result, his gratitude increases and his contentment grows.

In the same way, this world is a guest hall of the Most Merciful. The face of the earth is a spread table on which His gifts of mercy are offered. The seats refer to the variety of sustenance and the different degrees of bounty.

Indeed, the harmful effects of greed can be felt by everyone in the most ordinary actions. For example, when two beggars ask for help, people often feel inward aversion toward the beggar who begs greedily and give him nothing, while they show compassion and support to the beggar who asks with restraint.

Likewise, if you lie awake at night and desperately try to fall asleep, you may notice that sleep returns more easily if you simply wait patiently without focusing too much on it. But if you long greedily for sleep, thinking, “I must sleep now, I absolutely must fall asleep now,” then sleep itself will move even farther away from you.

Similarly, if you are impatiently waiting for someone because of an important matter and keep sighing, “He has not come, he still has not come,” your greedy expectation will eventually consume your patience, causing you to get up and leave. Only a minute later, the person you were waiting for arrives, but unfortunately the important matter for which you waited so long has passed you by.

The secret behind these events is as follows:

Just as the production of bread requires a field, grain, a mill, and an oven, so too in the orderly arrangement of creation there are stages of development based on wisdom. Because greedy people, in their impatience, do not observe these stages of development and try to skip over them, this leads either to a misstep or to the omission of a stage, so that they do not reach their goal.

So then, O brothers who have become dazed by concern for livelihood and intoxicated by worldly greed! Given the harmful consequences of greed and the misery it brings, how can you still humiliate yourselves on the path of greed? How can you accept goods without considering whether they are haram or halal, and sacrifice so many matters that are important for the life of the Hereafter?

Because of your greed, you even neglect giving zakāt—one of the most significant pillars of Islam—while it is, for every person, a means of receiving blessed bounties and repelling calamities. Whoever does not give zakātOne of the Five Pillars of Islam; the obligatory almsgiving for the benefit of the poor and the needy. will, one way or another, lose goods equal to the zakātOne of the Five Pillars of Islam; the obligatory almsgiving for the benefit of the poor and the needy. he should have given. Either he will waste them on useless things, or they will be taken from him through calamities.