One day, Mahmoud went out in the morning to go to school. He waited for the school bus on the street when he heard one of the ladies, who was sitting on the ground in the street selling vegetables. She was crying in a loud voice and began talking to another lady, saying to another lady beside her, “My son angered me yesterday and pushed me to the ground with the utmost cruelty.”
The other lady replied to her, “What makes your son do that to you? You’re old in age and suffer illness frequently, as you request money from him and provide food for him and his sisters.” The old lady responded, “He wanted some money, but I wanted to buy my medicine because I’ve been sick for two days. My son strongly refused to let me buy that medicine.” The other lady was sad and said, “I don’t know why our sons do this to us when they grow up.”
That old woman was suffering greatly and complained of pains in her back. She couldn’t sit on the ground. Mahmoud couldn’t wait any longer. He felt sadness and deep regret, and his eyes filled with tears. Mahmoud approached the old lady, smiled at her, and said, “I want to buy some things.” Indeed, he bought some vegetables.
The old woman felt pleased and smiled at Mahmoud, saying, “Here you are, my son.” That old woman was suffering and in much pain from her back, to the point she couldn’t lift the vegetables to Mahmoud and hand them to him. Mahmoud felt much pain. He took out all the money in his pocket and gave it to the old woman, then departed.
Suddenly, the old woman called to Mahmoud and told him the money exceeded the price of the vegetables, and she refused to take it. Mahmoud told her he had heard her talk about her suffering, and told her she could buy her medicine to cure her back pain, beseeching her to accept it from him. He told her she was like his mother and he wanted to buy her medicine.
The old woman smiled and was very grateful to Mahmoud, saying, “May God reward you with the best reward, my dear son. You are tender-hearted and extremely kind. But I don’t know the medicine’s name. All I remember is it’s green and treats pains of the back and joints.”
The old woman continued, “My feet hurt greatly and I can’t move.” Mahmoud didn’t hesitate and told her he would take care of it. He immediately went to the pharmacy near his home. Mahmoud described the medicine to the pharmacist, who was amazed he didn’t know its name. Mahmoud explained the situation and told him he didn’t have it. The pharmacist immediately brought the medicine and gave Mahmoud three boxes of it.
The pharmacist said to Mahmoud, “Here you are, my son. Give them to the old woman. I want no payment. You’re so kind and tender-hearted, showing compassion to the poor and honoring them while still young.” Then the pharmacist took out a small piece of paper and wrote on it: “This medicine is provided free of charge to the bearer of this card,” and gave it to Mahmoud.
The pharmacist handed Mahmoud the paper and told him to give it to the old woman so she would be happy and not bear worry at any time. Mahmoud thanked him greatly, took the medicine, and departed, then hurried back to the old woman, extremely happy. She was also very happy and thanked her Lord greatly, then thanked Mahmoud and wished much good for Mahmoud and the pharmacist.