One day there were three friends, Ahmed, Muhammad, and Sulaiman, and these friends had pledged to stand by each other’s side during any crisis that any of them went through, and these friends lived in one village, and this village was famous for the love of its inhabitants for each other, and the absence of hatred and enmity between them.
One day, Ahmed’s wife came to him and said to him: my beloved husband, you know that the Eid has approached, and we do not have new clothes for our children, so we want money to buy our children’s clothes. Her husband Ahmed replied to her, his heart filled with sadness and regret: I do not have money to buy new clothes for our children, but wait I will go to my friend Sulaiman to borrow some money from him.
Ahmed went to his friend Sulaiman and told him what had happened between him and his wife, and told him that he wanted to borrow some money from him. Sulaiman welcomed him and was happy about that, and entered his room and brought out for him a bag containing a thousand dirhams. Ahmed took the bag at the peak of happiness, and thanked his friend Sulaiman for his good deed and kindness.
On the way, Ahmed met Mahmoud and said to him: how are you Mahmoud? So Mahmoud said to him, and sadness appeared on his face: praise be to God, I am well, so Ahmed said to him: I feel that you are worried and sad my friend, so Mahmoud said to him: yes oh Ahmed, a problem and I need some money.
Ahmed took out the bag of money that he had taken from Sulaiman and gave it to Mahmoud and said to him: take this money my friend, for I do not want to see you sad. Ahmed returned to his wife, so she said to him: did you bring the money oh Ahmed? Ahmed told her what had happened, so this good wife smiled and said to him: may God bless you oh Ahmed, you relieved the distress of your Muslim brother.
After an hour, Ahmed heard a sound knocking on the door of the house, so he hurried and opened the door and found his friend Sulaiman, so he greeted him, welcomed him, and let him into the house, so Sulaiman said to him: where is the money that you took from me oh Ahmed?
So Ahmed said to him: I gave it to our friend Mahmoud because he was in a financial distress and needed it badly, so I gave him that money. Here Sulaiman began to laugh from the depths of his heart, and said praise be to God who honored me with friends like you, you are indeed the good company.
Ahmed did not understand what Sulaiman meant and asked him about the reason for his laughter and speech, so Sulaiman answered him saying: I was in a severe crisis so I requested this money from Mahmoud, so he gave me this bag, then you came and requested money from me, so I gave it to you with my extreme need for it.
Then you gave it to Mahmoud and preferred him to yourself with your extreme need for this money, and if Mahmoud prefers me to himself and sends me the money after taking it from you. Here Ahmed and Sulaiman both exploded laughing.
Then Sulaiman said to him: come let us go to Mahmoud and divide the money among us all, hoping that God will bless us in this money. The ruler of the village learned about the story of the three friends: Ahmed, Mahmoud, and Sulaiman, so the ruler said to the chief of guards: go and bring these three. When the chief of guards went to them, he told them that the ruler of the village wanted them, so they were afraid and said: we have not done anything, so what does the ruler of the village want from us?
So the chief of guards said: I do not know, but he wants you now. The three friends went with the chief of guards to the ruler, and when they reached the palace, the ruler ordered them to be entered immediately, so the ruler said to them: I have learned what you did and was very happy for this altruism between you, therefore I will present each of you a reward worth ten thousand dirhams as a reward for what you did.