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Once there lived a drunkard in a certain city who drank day and night, in company with his friends. Once he had arranged a party and all his friends were with him, waiting for the drinks to be served, when he gave four dirhams to one of his slave- boys and told him to bring some fruit from the market, which he wanted to serve to his friends before the drinks.
On the way to the market, the slave came across Sheikh Mansoor bin Ammaar al Basri Rahmatullah alayhe who was sitting in the company with his friends and followers. The Sheikh was exhorting people to give alms to a poor man. He said, in the cause of his exhortation,” Whosoever gives four dirhams as sadaqah to this poor man, I shall supplicate Allah Ta’ala to fulfill four wishes of his.”
The slave-boy gave four dirhams to the poor man and the Sheikh asked him to name his four wishes.
The boy said,” I am a bondsman working under my master; I wish that he should set me free.”
The Sheikh said, “Oh Allah, grant him freedom from bondage !”
The boy then said, “My second desire is that Allah Ta’ala should grant me a good recompense for the four dirhams that I have given away.” The Sheikh prayed accordingly.
The slave-boy, “my third desire is that myMaster should be granted ‘ Taufeeq’ (Divine Aid for the performance of virtues) to repent of his sins and that Allah Ta’ala should accept his repentance.”
The Sheikh supplicated Allah Ta’ala to grant him ‘Taufeeq’ to repent of his sins. The slave-boy said, “My last wish is that Allah Ta’ala should grant forgiveness to myself, to my master, to yourself, and to all the other people gathered here.”
The Sheikh supplicated to Allah Ta’ala to grant forgiveness to all of them.The slave-boy then went back to his master, which had neither fruit nor dirhams on him, saying to himself on the way, “The worst that he (his master) can do to me is to thrash me for taking this liberty.”
When he came home, his master was waiting for him and said, “You have taken too long.”
The slave- boy told him the whole story. The master, (owning to the benedictions of the Sheikh’s supplications), instead of flying into a rage, asked the slave-boy what supplications were made by the Sheikh for him.
The slave-boy said, “He prayed that I should be freed from the bondage of slavery. ”
The master said,” I set you free.” The slave-boy said he prayed that, he should get a good recompense for the four dirhams that I gave away.” The master said,” I give you 4000 dirhams as a gift.”
The slave-boy said, he prayed that Allah Ta’ala should grant you taufeeq to repent of your sins (drinking and other acts of lewdness and disobedience). The master said,” I repent of my sins.” The slave-boy said he prayed that Allah Ta’ala should grant forgiveness to you, to the Sheikh himself, to me and to all the people gathered there.
The master said,” This, ofcourse, is beyond my powers.”
That night the master dreamt that he heard a voice saying, ” You fulfilled three desires of your slave that lay within your power. Do you think that we shall not grant that which lies within our power? We forgive you, your slave, Mansoor and all the people gathered there.” (It-haaf).
