There were three persons from Bani Israel. One was bald headed, one was afflicted with leprosy, and the third was blind. Each of them had something special.
Allah (swt) decided to test them. So he sent an angel to each of them. The angel came to the first one, the leper. The angel asked the leper: “What is it that you would like from Allah (swt).”. The leper replied: “As you see, my skin is very ugly and I am very sick. If Allah (swt) were to bless me with good health and make my skin clear and clean I would be very grateful. And because I am afflicted with leprosy, the people dislike me, they avoid me. They hate me.” Then the angel put his hands on the body of the person, starting with his head and wiped them down over his body until he reached his feet. And, glory to Allah, the leprous scabs started falling down to the ground off of his body. And he was fully recovered from his leprosy. And the angel asked him, “Which type of livestock do you prefer?”. To which the former leper replied “Camels”. The angel presented him with one pregnant (she) camel. And he said “May Allah bless you in your wealth.”. And he left.
The angel came to the bald-headed man and said to him. “What’s your problem?”. And he replied: “You see my head, nobody wants to marry, I look very funny.. if Allah were to bless me with hair I would be very grateful.”. So the angel wiped his head and glory to Allah his hair started to grow in great quantities. A most beautiful head of thick rich dark hair. And then the angel asked “Which type of livestock do you prefer?”. And he said “Cows”. So he gave him a pregnant cow and said “May Allah bless you in your wealth.”. And he left.
Then the angel came to the blind man. He said to him: “What is your problem?”. He replied: “I am blind. I can’t see my way. I wish that Allah would restore my eyesight so that I would be able to see people and find my way.” The angel wiped his hand over his eyes and, glory to Allah, his eyesight was fully restored. Then he asked him: “Which type of livestock do you prefer.” He answered “Sheep”. So he gave to him a pregnant sheep and said “May Allah bless you in your wealth.” And he left.
After many years each of these men became more and more wealthy in their livestock to the point where their herds filled a valley each. They were in separate valleys and tending to their wealth.
The angel returned to each one but this time in a different guise.
To the former leper he came. “Asalaam alaikum.” “Wa’alaikum asalaam.”
The angel said to the former leper: “I am a poor person and I am hungry and I need to travel a long way to reach my family. Can you please give me one of these camels. I am asking you for the sake of the one who gave you beautiful colour and healthy skin.”. The former leper said: “Go away from here. These camels I got from my forefathers.” Ungrateful wretch, glory to Allah. The former leper simply chased the angel away. And he left.
To the former bald man he came. “Asalaam alaikum.” Wa’alaikum asalaam.”
He said: “I ask you for the sake of the one who has given you such beautiful hair for one cow so I can feed my family, we are very poor and they are hungry.”. And he said; “Go away from here. I have this herd from my forefathers.”. In the Qur’an Allah (swt) has said: “The humans when they are blessed with abundance will forget who has given them that wealth.”. So then the angel left.
To the former blind man he came. “Asalaamu’alaikum.” “Wa’alaikum asalaam.”.
The angel asked: “Can you give me one of these sheeps so I can feed my family. We are very poor. I ask for the sake of the one who has given you these beautiful eyes.”.
The former blind man said: “If you want, take whatever you want. Take one, two, three.. if you want take them all. Because this is Allah’s blessing to me. I had nothing to do with this. I was blind and Allah blessed me with sight and He gave me all of this barakah. So take whatever you want.”
The angel said: “May Allah protect you and give you more barakah and more thankfulness to Him (swt). Allah accepted you and is pleased with you but He has given the greatest disaster to the others who are not thankful to him.”
