Abul Hasan Daamighaani was the doorkeeper for the ruler, Mu‘izzud Daulah. He narrates the following incident:

On one occasion, I was in the antechamber (waiting area) of Mu‘izzud Daulah when a person shouted out, “(I need some) advice!” I then summoned him and asked him, “What advice do you require?” He said, “I will only mention my situation to the ruler.”

I thus entered the ruler’s room and informed him of the person who wished to speak to him, to which he said, “Bring him to me.” I then brought the man before the ruler who asked him, “What is your situation?”

The man replied, “I am a fisherman in the area of Madaa-in. I was fishing, when my net got caught and stuck at the bottom of the riverbank. I tried my best to free my net, but was unable to do so, until I went down and dived into the water. (On coming to the bottom, I saw that) my net had snagged onto an iron ring. On digging (around the ring), I found a jar that was filled with money. I returned the jar to its place and then came here to inform (you) the ruler (referring to Mu‘izzud Daulah,) of what had transpired.”

Abul Hasan Daamighaani says: On hearing this, I immediately went to Madaa-in with the fisherman. We came to the riverbank, found the jar and pulled it out. I then tried, on my own, to search the area, after which I suggested to the fisherman that we should thoroughly search and examine the area beneath the riverbank. We searched the area together, and found another seven jars that were similarly filled with money. We then carried the jars and brought them to the ruler, Mu‘izzud Daulah.

The ruler was delighted over acquiring this money, and instructed that the fisherman should be given ten thousand dirhams (silver coins) as a reward. However, the fisherman refused to accept the money and said, “I do not want the money. I want something else.” Mu‘izzud Daulah asked him, “What is it that you want?” The fisherman replied, “I want you to pass a law that only I will be permitted to fish in that area. You must prevent every other person, besides me, from fishing in this area.”

Hearing this, the ruler laughed, marveling at the fisherman’s ignorance and foolishness, and passed the law that he requested. (Akhbaarul Hamqaa wal Mughaffaleen pg. 127)

On reading this incident, one marvels at the foolishness of the fisherman. He was offered the princely sum of ten thousand dirhams, yet he turned it down in order to acquire exclusive fishing rights to a certain area. Had he accepted the money, he would have become wealthy and there would have been no need for him to fish.

Thus, his foolishness was that he did not recognize the worth of what he was being offered, and instead attached value to something far inferior and insignificant.

However, before we laugh at the fisherman’s foolishness, we should ponder over whether we have not become entrapped in a similar net of foolishness. On a daily basis, we are offered ‘priceless gems’ and ‘invaluable treasures’, yet we turn away and instead pursue things that are far inferior.

We have time to recite the Quraan Majeed, yet we while it away in futilities… We have the chance to engage in some zikr of Allah Ta‘ala, yet we instead sit idly on our phones… We have the opportunity to read about the lives of the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum), yet instead we read novels, blogs and look for other forms of entertainment…

When we examine our lives, we will realize that every moment offers us a unique chance to acquire some precious treasure of the Hereafter, yet we turn it down and excite ourselves with our phones, entertainment and idle activities.

In this respect, the fisherman is better than us, as he traded the dunya (material world) for the dunya, whereas we give preference to the dunya over the bounties of Jannah.

May Allah Ta‘ala bless us with the ability to value the bounty of life, time, energy and health and use it in acquiring His pleasure, aameen.