It is told that a well-to-do farmer once lived with his wife and five children in a village in the countryside. This farmer lived off the cultivation of his land, providing for his family from its bounty. However, during one particular planting season, the rains were withheld; they did not fall as they usually did to water his small field. The farmer grew deeply saddened, and he began to sing, pleading for the rain to fall, but the sky remained dry.
The farmer confined himself to his home, overcome by worry and despair. It pained his wife to see him in such a state, so she began to console him, advising him not to surrender to his misfortune but to journey through the land in search of the livelihood that Almighty God had ordained for him. The farmer paid no heed to his wife’s words and mocked her suggestions, for his field had parched and the birds had eaten the seeds he had sown.
But the wife did not lose hope. She urged her husband once again to go out and seek his fortune. Finally, the husband was convinced by her advice and decided to travel beyond his town in search of a new door to prosperity. During his journey, he faced many hardships and terrors until he eventually reached the Sultan’s palace.
There, he stood at the gate, asking the guard for permission to enter, but the guard tried to block him. The Sultan heard their voices and ordered the guard to allow the man in. When the farmer entered the Sultan’s presence, the Sultan asked what he desired. The farmer replied, “My Lord, I have come to you from a distant village after my circumstances became dire. I wish for Your Majesty to allow me to work in agriculture so that I and my family may live off your bounty.”
The Sultan said to him, “I have enough farmers. However, how would you like to work in another profession? I need a laborer to break rocks so we may make use of them.” The farmer agreed to the Sultan’s offer, and the Sultan informed him that he would be paid one gold dinar every week as a wage for his labor.
The farmer bowed his head in thought, then pulled a small handkerchief embroidered with colored threads from his pocket. He said to the Sultan, “What does my Lord think of giving me the weight of this handkerchief in gold at the end of each week?” The Sultan laughed heartily, mocking the farmer’s seemingly naive thinking, for the weight of a handkerchief is very light compared to a gold dinar.
The Sultan agreed to the farmer’s proposal, and the man began his work breaking rocks. Because the work was grueling, the farmer sweated profusely. Every time sweat rolled down his forehead, he would take out his embroidered handkerchief and wipe it away. The farmer continued to work with diligence and perseverance throughout the week, sweat pouring from him like torrential rain, and he continued to wipe it with the handkerchief until the week ended and the time for payment arrived.
The farmer entered the Sultan’s presence with his small handkerchief. He placed it on one side of the scale so the King could weigh it and pay him its weight in gold. The Sultan was astonished to find that the weight of the handkerchief equaled ten gold dinars! He even suspected that something was wrong with the scale, or that this farmer was nothing more than a cunning sorcerer who had cast a spell on the handkerchief to make it heavy.
The Sultan wanted to hold the farmer accountable for his perceived trickery, threatening him with imprisonment or death if he did not confess what he had done to that handkerchief. The farmer smiled with confidence and calm, saying, “My Lord Sultan, there is no magic in this story; it is simply the essence of human sweat.
If a man performs his work honorably, with total dedication and sincerity, then the sweat of his brow will carry great weight.” The Sultan was convinced by the farmer’s words and said to him, “You have truly earned these ten dinars. May God bless your effort and your wealth, O kind farmer.” The farmer thanked the Sultan and departed, returning to his wife happy and joyful. Their lives were transformed from hardship into happiness and prosperity.