Our master Hassan and our master Husayn - may God be pleased with both of them - were on the path of a great desert and good smell. Because they were both walking on the path, they passed by a man who was urinating, but he did not improve his urination.
The Old Man’s Mistake in Washing in the Desert: For he did not wash his face completely, and did not wash his hands both of them, and left some of his legs without washing. When Hassan and Husayn saw that from the man, they were angry at his mistake in urination, and his age was older than them both. He feared what they had said to him: Improve your urination, or if your urination is not proper, or that you do not know urination. The man became shy and ashamed of them both.
The Clever Trick to Clean and Mend: So they thought of a trick they would make to clean him, without causing him embarrassment in that. They both approached him and said to him: Oh sheikh the great, my brother sees that you improve urination more than me, so I want you to look at each of us while he urinates, then you see from whom is better urination than us, then both of them urinated, and the man looked at them both. He saw each of them urinate well and understood that he was the one who did not improve urination and meant to clean him.
The Good Deed and Good Reputation from Planting Trees: So the great old man said to them both: I thank you both for your good improvement and your complete manners, and I acknowledge that I am the one who does not improve urination, and I have learned from you both how to urinate, and from now on I will improve urination in front of you.
Teaching the Small in Childhood is Mandated in His Aging: It is narrated also that the small in childhood was once walking with his father in the desert, when he saw a small fig tree on the side of the path that had been uprooted by the wind, with its beautiful flowers, pleasant fruits, and beside it a small tree near the path that had withered, and its head was almost touching the ground.
The Wise and His Son: So the wise said to his son: Look at that withered tree, go and restore it to its first shape, and then set off until you approach (fig) a large tree with many fruits and branches. The wise said to his son: Look, oh my son, to this tree, what it became to it from when it was small, and its branches that had grown from it, and she threw from its contents in the eyes of the viewers, and it rushed towards it, and did with it as she had done with the one before it.
The Son’s Excuse: So the son smiled bitterly and said: I do not hate doing the known, except that this tree is not suitable to reach its great age. Yes, that was possible in its small age, but as for now it is impossible, and if a group of the monkeys gathered on it, yes that was possible in the time of its smallness.
The Coming of the Wise Man’s Son and His Return: So the wise admired at his son’s behavior and rejoiced with what he had invented from the strength of his mind, and told him: You answered correctly, oh my son (for whoever walks on something, he carries on it, so the small in childhood, you are obligated in your greatness). Mentioning the Wise’s Saying: Then he returned from where he came, and the father kept repeating to himself this saying, what did he teach: self-discipline in the smallness, and what came upon him in greatness. And he mentioned the narrator’s saying:
Small benefit the children in smallness… and do not benefit at the greatness of the old man… Indeed if its children were attached… they will be patient if its children were attached…