arrival: ‘Your majesty! What caused you to come out of the place of your worship?’ That worshipper replied: ‘I have come here because of you, I have been informed that you have a higher rank than me in the court of Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ. Therefore, I have come to see you; now inform me of your good deed which has earned you such a lofty rank in the court of Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ?’ The cobbler remained silent as if he was hesitating to reveal his action, and then said: ‘There is no special deed, however! I remain busy all the day long to earn lawful sustenance and refrain from unlawful things, then whatever sustenance I earn throughout the day by the grace of Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ, I spend half of it in the way of Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ and spend the other half on my family. A part from this, the other action is that I observe fasts abundantly, except for these two things, there is nothing in me which earns me excellence.’

Listening to this, the worshipper went back to the mountain and engaged himself in worshipping again. After a short period of time, he was instructed to ask the cobbler about his pale face. The worshipper approached him again and asked why his face was pale. The cobbler replied: ‘Whenever I glance at anybody, I believe that this man is better than me, that he is a dweller of Jannah and I am a dweller of Hell. I think of myself to be worthless over all others and also consider myself to be the biggest sinner as I fear Hell each and every moment. This is what makes my face pale.’ That worshipper went back to his worshipping place.

Sayyiduna Khuld Bin Ayyub رَحْمَةُ اللهِ تَعَالٰی عَلَيْه has stated: That cobbler was granted superiority over that worshipper because the cobbler used to believe that others are better than him and besides himself, he considered all other believers to be dwellers of Jannah. May Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ have mercy on such virtuous people and forgive us for their sake!

Dear Islamic brothers! A cobbler attained a greater status than that pious person who devoted 60 years in worshipping on top of the mountain. The distinctive qualities of the pious cobbler was that he would earn Halal (lawful) sustenance all day long, refrain from Haraam (unlawful) and then he would spend half of his earning in the way of Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ as a Sadaqah. The second blessed deed of that righteous cobbler was that he would observe fasts abundantly and especially that blessed action which elevated his status more