Long ago in one of the poor villages, there lived an old poor man. Despite his poverty, the king envied him because he owned a beautiful white horse unlike any other. The king tried repeatedly to buy it but to no avail.
Though the king offered him an excellent price, the old man refused, saying: “This is not just an ordinary horse to me; it is my friend, so how can I sell my friend? Forgive me, my lord, for this is impossible.”
One morning, when the old man went to the horse’s place, he did not find it! The news spread throughout the whole village, and the people gathered around his house. They said to him: “What a strange old man you are. Everyone coveted your beautiful horse; it was only natural that it would be stolen one day. Why didn’t you sell it for the tempting price he offered you? Now it is lost, and with it a great fortune.”
The old man answered them with great patience and faith: “How can you know whether the horse’s departure was bad luck or good for me?” The people were amazed at his response and said to him: “Don’t deceive us and don’t deceive yourself; you’ve lost your treasure, and this is certainly bad luck.”
The man said with the same steadfastness: “All I know now is that the horse is no longer in my house. Beyond that, I do not know. Who knows what the coming days will bring?” The people mocked his words and laughed at him, then left, wondering at his madness—how he refused to sell the horse that would have made him a rich man living a better life than the one he lived.
A few days later, the horse returned from the wilds with many horses of the same breed. The village people gathered at the old man’s house again and said to him: “You were right and we were wrong. We apologize deeply for judging you. The horse’s departure was not bad luck. Thanks to it, you now have many horses, more beautiful and powerful, and you can benefit from them by training them and earning more money.”
The old man answered them again with the same response: “Who knows whether having many horses is a blessing or not? I do not know.”
The villagers were amazed for a second time at the old man’s reaction. Despite owning all those horses, he did not seem happy. After several days, the old man’s son began training those horses. But while he was doing so, he fell from one of the wild horses and broke his leg. When the people heard this news, they said to him: “You were right and we were wrong. The many horses were not a blessing, because through them your only son, who helped you in all matters, was injured.” They began to console him on his bad luck.
He answered them with the same deep faith: “My son has only broken legs. Who knows if this is bad luck or a blessing?”
As usual, the villagers left, marveling at his patient response to affliction and his contentment with every decree. A month later, war broke out, and all the young men of the village were compelled to join the army. Everyone wept at their children’s departure.
They went to the old man and said to him: “Our children have gone forever, while your son will live with you because of that injury.” As was his habit, the patient old man said to them: “No one knows whether what I am in is a blessing or bad luck. Only God, glory be to Him, knows where and when good will happen to us.”
Thus is our life: when God intends good for us, it will happen, and when He intends harm, it will happen. So we should not judge things as we see them, for we do not know what will come after. Only God, glory be to Him, knows the unseen and directs affairs.
Taken from The Old Man Replied