The impact of sincerity to Allāh in righteous deeds and seeking His favor through them
أثر الإخلاص لله في الأَعمال الصالحة والتوسل بها
(Three people were in a cave, and a rock fell on the entrance of the cave, sealing them inside. One of them said: Recall which of you has done a good deed; perhaps Allāh, by His mercy, will have mercy on us! One of them said: I once did a good deed; I had laborers working for me, and workers came to me, so I hired each man of them for a known wage. One day, a man came to me in the middle of the day, and I hired him for half of what I hired his companions, and he worked for the rest of the day as each man of them worked for the whole day. I felt obliged not to reduce his wage from what I hired his companions for, due to his hard work. One of them said: Will you give this man the same as you gave me when he only worked half a day?! I said: O servant of Allāh! I have not shortchanged you in any of your terms, and it is my wealth, I can do with it as I please! He became angry and left, abandoning his wage. I placed his due in a part of the house as Allāh willed, and later cows passed by me, so I bought a calf with it, and it grew as Allāh willed. After some time, an old weak man passed by me whom I did not recognize, and he said: I have a right with you; he reminded me until I recognized him. I said: I have been looking for you, this is your right, and I presented all of it to him! He said: O servant of Allāh! Do not mock me! If you are not truthful with me, then give me my right. I said: By Allāh! I am not mocking you; it is indeed your right, I have nothing of it, and I handed it all over to him. O Allāh! If I did that for Your sake, then relieve us! The rock split open until they saw and perceived
(إنّ ثلاثةً كانُوا في كهْفٍ، فوقعَ الجبلُ على بابِ الكهْفِ فأَوصدَ عليهم، قالَ قائلٌ منهم: تذَاكرُوا؛ أيّكُم عملَ حَسَنَةً؛ لعلّ اللهَ ﷿ برحمتِه يرحمُنا! فقالَ رجلٌ منهم: قدْ عملتُ حسَنَةً مرّةً؛ كانَ لي أُجَراءُ يعملونَ، فجاءَ عمّالٌ لِي، فاستأْجرتُ كلّ رجلٍ منهُم بأجْرٍ معلومٍ، فجاءني رجلٌ ذاتَ يومٍ وسطَ النّهارِ، فاستأْجَرتُه بشَطْرِ أصحابِه، فعمِلَ في بقيّةِ نهارِه كما عملَ كلّ رجلٍ منهم في نهارِه كلّه، فرأيتُ عليّ في الذِّمامِ أنْ لا أنقصَه مما استأجرتُ به أصحابَه؛ لِما جَهِدَ في عملِه، فقالَ رجلٌ منهم: أتعطِي هذا مثْلَ ما أعطيتَني ولم يعملْ إلا نصْفَ نهارٍ؟! فقلتُ: يا عبدَ الله! لم أبخسْكَ شيئاً من شرْطِك، وإنّما هو مالي أحكمُ فيه ما شئتُ! قال: فغضبَ وذهبَ، وتركَ أجرَه. قال: فوضعتُ حقّه في جانبٍ من البيْتِ ما شاءَ اللهُ، ثمّ مرّتْ بي بعدَ ذلكَ بقرٌ، فاشتريتُ به فصِيلَة (١) من البقَرِ؛ فبلغتْ ما شاءَ اللهُ. فمرّ بي بعدَ حينٍ شيْخاً ضَعِيفاً لا أعرفُه، فقال: إنّ لي عندَك حقّاً؛ فذكَّرنِيه حتى عرفْته، فقلتُ: إيّاك أبْغي، هذا حقُّك، فعرضتُها عليهِ جميعها! فقالَ: يا عبدَ الله! لا تسخرْ بي! إنْ لم تصْدُقْ عليَّ فأَعطِني حقِّي، قلتُ: واللهِ! لا أسخَرُ بكَ؛ إنّها لحقّكَ، ما لي منها شيءٌ، فدفعتها إليهِ جميعاً، اللهمّ! إنْ كنتُ فَعلتُ ذلكَ لوجهِك؛ فافْرُج عنّا! قال: فانصدعَ الجبلُ حتّى رأوا منه وأَبْصَرُوا