The Tale of the Envious Man and the Envied

In the great city of Damascus, renowned throughout the world for its skilled craftsmen and successful merchants, there lived two men whose friendship had been forged in childhood and strengthened through years of shared experiences. Their names were Khalil and Rashid, and from their earliest days, they had been inseparable companions, sharing their joys and sorrows, their hopes and dreams, as closely as brothers born of the same mother.

Khalil was blessed with a natural gift for commerce—he possessed an intuitive understanding of market conditions, an ability to judge the quality of goods with a glance, and a talent for negotiating that served him well in all his business dealings. His success seemed effortless, as if Allah Himself guided his every transaction toward prosperity and profit.

Rashid, though equally intelligent and hardworking, found that success came to him more slowly and required greater effort. He watched his friend’s seemingly easy triumphs with growing unease, and gradually, a poison began to seep into his heart—the bitter poison of envy that would ultimately destroy everything good and noble in his character.

For years, Rashid managed to hide his growing resentment behind a mask of friendship, congratulating Khalil on his successes while secretly wishing for his failures. But envy is like a disease that grows stronger with time, and eventually, Rashid’s jealousy consumed his better nature entirely.

The breaking point came when both men competed for the same lucrative trade contract with a caravan master who was planning an expedition to distant India. The contract would bring great wealth to whoever secured it, and both friends submitted their best proposals.

When Khalil won the contract through a combination of superior planning and favorable terms, Rashid’s envy finally erupted into active malice. “Why should he always succeed where I fail?” Rashid muttered to himself as he watched his friend celebrate. “Surely I deserve some of the good fortune that comes to him so easily.”

Consumed by jealous rage, Rashid conceived a terrible plan to destroy his friend’s prosperity and reputation. He went secretly to the authorities and falsely accused Khalil of sedition against the government, claiming that his friend was planning to use his trade connections to aid enemies of the state.

The accusation was completely false, but Rashid presented his lies with such apparent sincerity that the officials believed him. Khalil was arrested without warning, his goods were confiscated, and he was sentenced to exile from Damascus, forbidden ever to return upon pain of death.

As Khalil was led away in chains, he looked back at his childhood friend with eyes full of hurt and bewilderment. “Brother of my heart,” he said sadly, “I do not understand why this has happened to me, but I pray that Allah will guide us both toward truth and justice.”

Rashid felt a moment of terrible guilt as he heard these words, but his envy had hardened his heart beyond the reach of conscience. He watched his former friend disappear into exile and told himself that justice had finally been served.

Khalil wandered for many months through distant lands, surviving on charity and odd jobs while struggling to understand why his life had been so suddenly destroyed. His faith in Allah remained strong, but his heart was heavy with grief for the friendship he had lost and the home he could never see again.

One evening, as he rested beside a small stream in a lonely valley far from any human settlement, Khalil met a wise hermit who lived in solitude among the rocks and thorns of the wilderness. The holy man listened to Khalil’s story with compassion and understanding.

“My son,” the hermit said when the tale was complete, “you have been wronged by one who called himself your friend, but do not let bitterness poison your own heart. Allah sees all things, knows all truths, and in His own time, He will set all accounts straight.”

The hermit gave Khalil a small vial containing a clear liquid that seemed to glow with inner light. “This water comes from a sacred spring that has the power to heal blindness—not just of the eyes, but of the heart and soul as well. When the time comes for truth to be revealed, you will know how to use it.”

Meanwhile, in Damascus, Rashid had taken over much of his former friend’s business and seemed to be prospering greatly. But his success brought him no joy, for his heart was consumed with guilt and fear. He found himself constantly looking over his shoulder, worried that his treachery might be discovered, and he took no pleasure in wealth that had been gained through such dishonorable means.

Worse still, Rashid began to suffer from a strange affliction—his eyesight started to fail, growing dimmer with each passing day. The finest physicians in Damascus could find no cause for his blindness, and their treatments proved useless against this mysterious malady.

As his vision faded, Rashid’s business began to suffer, for he could no longer judge the quality of goods or navigate the complex negotiations that had once been his livelihood. His wealth disappeared as quickly as it had come, and he found himself reduced to begging in the very streets where he had once walked as a successful merchant.

One day, as Rashid sat in the marketplace holding out his hand for charity, he heard a familiar voice speaking kindly to the crowds gathered around. “Good people of Damascus,” the voice said, “I have been blessed with the knowledge of how to heal blindness. If any among you suffer from this affliction, come forward and let me try to help you.”

Rashid’s heart nearly stopped as he recognized the voice of his former friend Khalil, whom he had believed to be lost forever in distant exile. Trembling with a mixture of hope and terror, Rashid made his way toward the sound, guided by others in the crowd.

When Khalil saw his childhood friend approaching, blind and dressed in the rags of a beggar, his heart was filled with compassion rather than anger. Despite all the wrong that Rashid had done to him, Khalil remembered their years of friendship and felt only sorrow for his former companion’s suffering.

“Peace be upon you, old friend,” Khalil said gently, taking Rashid’s hands in his own. “I have learned much during my travels, including the art of healing. Will you allow me to try to restore your sight?”

Rashid wept as he heard these words, overwhelmed by both gratitude and shame. “Brother,” he whispered, “I do not deserve your kindness. It was I who accused you falsely and caused your exile. My blindness is just punishment for my evil deeds.”

Khalil’s eyes filled with tears as he learned the truth at last, but his voice remained steady and compassionate. “What is done is done, my friend. Envy poisoned your heart and led you to do wrong, but that poison has clearly brought you enough suffering. Let us speak now of healing and forgiveness.”

Taking the hermit’s vial from his robes, Khalil applied a few drops of the sacred water to Rashid’s eyes. Immediately, the blindness began to fade, and within moments, Rashid could see clearly once again.

But the true miracle was not the restoration of physical sight, but the healing that took place in Rashid’s heart. As his vision returned, so did his ability to see clearly the difference between right and wrong, between the poison of envy and the blessing of contentment.

“Forgive me, brother,” Rashid said, falling to his knees before his friend. “I have wronged you terribly, and I understand if you can never trust me again. But please know that your kindness has healed more than my eyes—it has restored my soul.”

Khalil raised his friend to his feet with a smile of genuine warmth. “We are both different men than we were before,” he said. “You have learned the bitter lessons that envy teaches, and I have learned the sweet lessons of forgiveness. Perhaps Allah allowed all of this to happen so that we might become better than we were.”

The two friends worked together to clear Rashid’s name with the authorities, revealing the truth about the false accusations. Khalil’s exile was officially ended, and he was welcomed back to Damascus with honor. But more importantly, both men had gained wisdom that would guide them for the rest of their lives.

Rashid never again allowed envy to take root in his heart, and whenever he felt tempted by jealousy, he remembered the suffering it had brought him and the mercy his friend had shown him. Khalil, for his part, became known throughout the city for his wisdom and compassion, helping others to resolve their disputes and overcome their destructive emotions.

Together, they established a partnership that prospered not through competition or manipulation, but through mutual support and shared wisdom. Their business became a model for honest dealing, and their friendship became a legend that was told throughout Damascus as an example of how even the worst wrongdoing could be overcome through repentance and forgiveness.

In later years, when young merchants would come to them for advice, Khalil and Rashid would always tell their story as a warning about the dangers of envy and a testament to the power of forgiveness. “Envy,” they would say, “is a fire that burns the one who harbors it far more than the one against whom it is directed. But forgiveness is a balm that heals both the wronged and the wrongdoer.”

The tale of the envious man and the envied became one of the most popular moral stories told in the coffee houses and schools of Damascus, teaching generations of listeners that jealousy is a poison that destroys everything it touches, while forgiveness and compassion have the power to transform even the most broken relationships into something beautiful and strong.

And the sacred water that had healed Rashid’s blindness continued to work its miracles, for both friends discovered that once they had learned to see clearly with the eyes of wisdom and compassion, they found happiness and success that far exceeded anything they had achieved through mere material prosperity. Their lives became a living testament to the truth that contentment with one’s own blessings is worth more than all the envied wealth in the world.