Empty walnut and guests

When uncle returned home in the evening, he got surprised to see the naughty boy ‘Nannhay Miyan’ sitting on sofa with a long face whereas his maternal aunt's sons ‘Sohail’ and ‘Saleem’ were playing there. Despite a tired day at work, uncle went straight to ‘Nannhay Miyan’.

Uncle asked: ‘Why are you sitting silent? Why are you not playing with children?’ ‘Nannhay Miyan’ replied with displeasure: ‘I do not feel like playing.’ While stroking the head of ‘Nannhay Miyan’, Uncle said: ‘Alright son! Play when you wish to’.

When ‘Nannhay Miyan’ did not get up from the sofa even after a long time, the uncle came nearer [to him] and said: ‘What happened? Today our ‘Nannhay Miyan’ is not playing with his friends’. ‘Nannhay Miyan‘ said: ‘I do not want to play with anybody, I am displeased with grandmother’. Then he turned his face angrily in another direction.  Uncle asked: ‘What did she do that made you angry with her?’

This news spread quickly in the whole house that ‘Nannhay Miyan’ is angry with grandmother. When the news reached the ears of grandmother, she came out from her room and rushed to ‘Nannhay Miyan’ without even wearing her spectacles.

‘Oh! My beloved child is angry with me and I don't even know. What made my child angry with his grandmother?’ Grand mother asked Nannhay Miyan. Uncovering the reason of his anger, ‘Nannhay Miyan’ said: ‘Grandmother! You did not treat me fairly. I was playing with ‘Sohail’ and ‘Saleem’. You approached us and gave 5 walnuts to Sohail and Saleem each and only 4 walnuts to me. Among those 4 nutshells, one turned out empty’.

All family members gathered around and were surprised at Nannhay Miyan's words. ‘O my Dear son! I had just brought a handful of walnuts, ‘Sohail’ and ‘Saleem’ just got 5 each and you got 4. You are my beloved one. I will give you not one but two more walnuts but for that you will have to listen to a true story and act upon the moral lesson of it’. ‘Nannhay Miyan’ said quickly: “Tell me immediately! I will certainly act upon it’.

For listening to the story, elders too, revered to their childhood and started listening to it attentively like ‘Nannhay Miyan’. The Grandmother started to tell the story:

Once a hungry person came to the Holy Prophet صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم and humbly asked for food. There was nothing to eat in his home at that time.’ ‘Nannhay Miyan’ questioned the grandmother:  ‘So, what did Holy Prophet صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم reply to the hungry person?’ Grandmother continued: He صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم asked the people, ‘Who will make him his guest?’ A blessed companion of the Holy Prophet صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم stood and took the hungry person to his home treating him as a guest. Upon reaching home, the blessed companion asked his wife ‘Is there anything to eat’. She humbly replied: ‘There is [some] food left only for children’. The blessed companion said: ‘Get the children sleep without giving them food and bring that food for the guest and return off the oil-lamp when our guest begins to eat the food. We will continue sitting near the guest and he will think of us eating food with him’.

The blessed companion's wife did the same as instructed and the guest thought while eating that both husband and wife were eating with him. Thus, both the husband and wife kept themselves hungry but fed their guest well.

After finishing the story, the grandmother said to ‘Nannhay Miyan’ while making him understand: ‘Good people respect their guests very much. ‘Saleem’ and ‘Sohail’ are our guests too. If ever, they get anything more than you, you should neither get angry about it nor feel bad about it.’

Nodding his head in positive, ‘Nannhay Miyan’ humbly said: ‘Alright dear grandmother! I will not get angry about anything that will be given to guests’.


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