remained silent as if he was hesitating to reveal his deed, and then said: ‘There is no special deed. However, I remain busy all day long to earn lawful sustenance and refrain from unlawful wealth. Then whatever sustenance I earn throughout the day by the grace of Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ, I spend half of it in the way of Allah and spend the other half on my family. The other deed is that I observe Siyam [fasts] abundantly. Except for these two deeds, there is nothing in me which earns me excellence.’

Listening to this, the worshipper went back to the mountain and again engaged himself in worshipping. 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 presume 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 presume that others are better than him and except for 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!

فخر و غُرور سے تُو مولٰی مجھے بچانا

یا ربّ! مجھے بنا دے پیکر تُو عاجِزی کا

صَلُّوۡا عَلَى الۡحَبِيۡب              صَلَّى اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى عَلٰى مُحَمَّد

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 were that he would earn Halal [i.e. lawful] sustenance all day long, refrain from Haraam [i.e. unlawful] and then he would spend half of his earning in the way of Allah as a Sadaqah. The