Islamic Exemplary Stories

His hasud harmed himself

There was a godly man who had a close relationship with a king. Almost every day he came to the palace to give advice to the King, who never tired of listening even though he sometimes repeated his advice several times. This can happen because he is very sincere, there is no pretension (pamrih) whatever, especially the world. One of the often repeated pieces of advice is, “Make good to the good-natured, for the one who does and does evil will perish by his own evil!!”

It turns out that there are people who do not like, even hasud with his closeness to the king. He was always looking for a way to separate the righteous from the king, even if possible to destroy him. After making a careful plan, he came to the king and said, “O king, the righteous man who always comes to you tells those around him that your bad breath is very foul!!”

“What's true like that?” The king asked, half in disbelief.

The man said again, “If the king does not believe, if tomorrow he faces here, command him to come closer, he will cover his nose and mouth!!”

It seemed that the king was consumed by his hastiness, and said, “You go home, I will check the truth of your words!!”

The next day, early in the morning before leaving for the king's palace, the pious man was invited to the house of the seductive man. After giving the requested advice, the righteous man was treated to a dish and was welcome to eat it. It turned out that the pengasud had put a lot of garlic in the dish, so that the mouth of the pious man smelled bad, the smell of garlic pungent.

The pious man said goodbye because he had a promise to see the king every day. He did not have time to get rid of the smell of his mouth, and faced the king in such a state. As he prepared to give advice, it was not as usual that suddenly the king called him closer to sit face to face, but it was carefully calculated by the instigator. Afraid that the smell of his mouth would disturb the king, he shut his mouth, even while giving his advice, he kept his mouth shut with his hands.

Seeing the attitude of the pious man, the king so allowed ‘report’ from the seductive man. Before returning home, the king wrote a letter to one of his dignitaries who was also one of his executioners. The king said in his letter, “If you have received this letter, you must kill and skin the bearer of this letter!! After that you should send it to me again, his head and skin as proof that you have done your duty!!”

After being given a sealed envelope and sealed with a royal seal, the letter was handed to the pious man and ordered to take it to his dignitary somewhere. The pious man received the letter without any suspicion at all, and immediately set off towards the place he was ordered to. The seductive man who was still following and watching him was surprised to see that he was still alive, even carrying a letter with a special envelope from the king. The person who obtained such an envelope usually obtained very valuable gifts and gifts from the king. Because he has the nature and character of hasud (the envy and displeasure if others get pleasure, and want the loss of pleasure), he approached the pious person and said, “What is the letter?”

The pious man said, “This letter was written by the king himself, and I was ordered to deliver it!!”

The pious man tried to endure that it was his duty, but the seductress insisted, so he handed the letter to her. The seductress immediately passed towards the residence of the indicated magnate. After handing over the letter, he waited happily and guessed what gift he would receive. But unexpectedly, the governor ordered the soldiers to capture and bind him, saying, “In this letter, the king ordered to kill the man who carried this letter, then behead and skin him!!”

Instantly pale in the face of the seductress, she tried to rebel and said, “Truly the letter is not for me. Allow me to face and convey this to the king!!”

The ruler ignored his words, his rebellion was a waste because the soldiers were so strong to hold him. The magnate said, “The letter of the king is indisputable, and the order of the king must be executed immediately!!”

He was immediately slaughtered, beheaded and flayed and sent to the king. When the king accepted it, he was surprised that it was not the head of the righteous. He ordered the soldiers to bring the righteous man before him. When he had arrived and he had no idea that the seductress had been beheaded, the king said, “Why did you not deliver the letter yourself as I commanded??

The pious man recounted everything he had experienced, and apologized for his carelessness and handed the letter to someone else. The king said again, “Do you really say to people that my bad breath is so foul??”

“Astaghfirullah, it is not true like that, O king!!” 

“But why did you shut your mouth when I ordered you to come near me!!”

The pious man recounted the incident he had experienced before he went to the king that morning. The king nodded his head beginning to understand his words, then he said, “Absolutely your teachings and advice, the wicked man will perish for his own evil!!”