but the bowl remained empty as before. Seeing this, the king called for a bag full of precious jewels from the treasure. That too vanished.

Now, the king’s face went all pale. Being stubborn, he said to the minister: ‘Bring more bags. Put whatever we have in this bowl. This bowl shall fill up at any cost.’ The minister did exactly as he was instructed.

The afternoon fell but the bowl remained empty like before because anything that would be poured into the bowl would immediately vanish and the bowl would remain empty like before. Finally, evening time was approaching and signs of helplessness were apparent on king’s face.

Anxious and stunned, he stepped forward and held beggar’s hand. He lowered his gaze and apologised to him. Then, he humbly said: ‘O bondman of Allah Almighty! You tell now that what secret lies in this bowl that it does not fill up?’

The beggar replied in a serious tone: ‘There is no especial secret hidden in it. This bowl is actually made up of human desires. Human desires can never be fulfilled. No matter how much you fill it up, the bowl of desires always remains empty. Moreover, it always remains open to demand for more.’ (Hirs, pp. 172 - 174; summarised)

صَلُّوۡا عَلَى الۡحَبِيۡب           صَلَّى اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى عَلٰى مُحَمَّد

Dear Islamic brothers! No matter how rich a person becomes or how destitute he ends up being, the bowl of his desires never fills up. Majority of people in our society do not look satisfied over their condition. They keep developing new desires inside them. The one having bicycle desires for a bike. The one with a bike is striving to buy a car. The one who has a car dreams of owning a better car. And the one who owns a better car strives to buy a luxury car. Similarly, those who own a great fully air-conditioned house, expensive furniture, luxury cars, branded clothes and numerous servants, even they desire to accumulate more wealth.