In a far distant country lived an old man. During his lifetime, he had many opportunities to save some money for his old age, but he failed to do so. He was given bounty upon bounty, and considerable richness throughout his life, yet he was unfortunate in that he spent all his wealth in vain due to his bad habits and friends. At the end of the day, he was in the red and had no wealth, but owed many people money. He was trying to survive on very little and still had to pay his debts. Over the course of time, he realized that it would be impossible to persuade people to wait any longer for their money. He was broke and had no hope.One day,when he was feeling low, he heard the king's announcement being proclaimed all over the streets. His majesty’s royal treasury was going to be open to the public for thirty days at specific times for his subjects. The generous king wanted his citizens to come and collect coins from the treasury. When he heard the news, he thought his ears were deceiving him, so he asked his neighbours and they confirmed that it was true. Yes, his time had come. His ears did not deceive him; the king wanted his subjects to take as much as they could from the treasury. The event was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
He felt extremely happy and so off he went. He told his other hard-up friends and invited them to the treasury to join him. Unbelievably, the treasury was
open to fellow citizens and people were allowed to collect gold coins, but only at specific times. He had two options. The first way was to learn the rules, and delve directly into the treasury, collect as much as he could, and pay back his debts. The second was to ignore the open treasury event and do whatever he wanted. After long years of poverty and difficult conditions, he made a wise choice and entered the building. He once again asked his friends to come in, but they were hesitant to do so. Apparently, the treasury was magnificent and it seemed not that easy to go at certain times, and there were rules and regulations to do with collecting the gold coins. At the end of the day, they decided not to.
The fortunate old man happily visited the treasury every day in the early morning and went out again in the evening. For thirty days, he collected a lot more than he had ever thought possible. He paid his debts and collected a remarkable amount of money to live on comfortably for a long time.
Based upon this simple parable, one can understand that just like this old gentleman, we are in debt; we have sins, we need to do a lot to escape the Hellfire and gain Paradise. Fortunately, we now have an excellent opportunity in the thirty days of Ramadan. Allah (SWT) has bestowed upon us this month and has offered us two options, to enter the treasury of Ramadan and collect good deeds for our hereafter, or to ignore it and wander around it.
The month of Ramadan is an unbelievable treasury for believers. If we spend those times with the utmost care and in beneficial ways, we then might be able to get rid of our spiritual debts, sins and shortcomings, besides which, we can gain new good habits during this month, as well as performing marvellous good deeds. Ramadan is not only a period of time to pay debts, but also a great opportunity to move forward and gain spiritually. Now think that you are in the month of Ramadan, the Treasury of the Almighty King, and be ready to collect as much treasure as you can. This is your month. This is your treasury. You can earn an eternal life. You have the time, you have the potential. Use your mind wisely and you may save your future.
