M6:2590 — گفت الصدقه مرد للبلا / داو مرضاک به صدقه یا فتی

Translation: He said: "Charity repels affliction; Treat your sick with charity, O youth."

Meaning: This verse, spoken by the jester in the story, refers to the common belief that giving charity not only wards off calamities but can also serve as a remedy for illnesses.

This verse emerges from the tale of the jester who strives to dissuade the king from rash judgment and tyranny. The jester, endowed with profound wisdom, points to a crucial principle deeply embedded in our religious tradition: "Charity repels affliction" (al-Ṣadaqa tarfaʿ al-balāʾ) and "Treat your sick with charity" (dāwū marḍākum bi’l-ṣadaqa). These are not mere proverbs, but foundational tenets of conduct and worship in our society.

I firmly believe that any act of goodness (khayr) whose benefit extends to others is immeasurably more valuable and superior to deeds whose benefit is confined solely to the doer. While prayers and recitations have their own esteemed place, any act of devotion that lends a hand to the needy accrues tenfold reward. Mawlana himself suggests that one should seek any pretext to extend kindness to others, even if that pretext is to avert personal calamity or heal the sick. The crucial point is that the goodness is performed.

This resonates with Mawlana's metaphor of "lighting another lamp." The fierce wind of destiny (ajal) blows, and sooner or later, it will extinguish the lamp of our own lives. What then is the remedy? We cannot escape death. The solution, as Mawlana implies, is to "light another lamp"; that is, through beneficence and kindness to others, to establish a legacy of goodness that endures beyond our own existence, continuing to illuminate the world. This is the meaning of enduring within transience.

However, the jester warns the king that charity is not burning a dervish or blinding their eyes. Tyranny can never masquerade as charity. True charity is compassion and magnanimity, not despotism and violence.

In response, the king, through Mawlana's voice, offers a noteworthy counterpoint: "Goodness is fine, and its timing right / But only if your good deed's in its place." This means that goodness is not inherently good; it must be situated correctly. If one bestows goodness upon an undeserving recipient, or someone who will squander it on corruption, it ceases to be goodness and becomes a form of waste. Here, the distinction between blind charity and discerning benevolence becomes clear. As the Arab poet says: "If you honor the noble, you master him / But if you honor the base, he rebels." Honoring the virtuous enhances their virtue, while honoring the ignoble fuels their defiance.

Key takeaways

• Charity is a means to repel calamities and heal illnesses.
• Any benevolent act that benefits others is among the highest forms of worship.
• Seek pretexts to do good for others, even if motivated by personal gain.
• Mortal life can be extended through lasting good deeds in society (the 'lighting another lamp' metaphor).
• Oppression and violence can never be termed charity.
• Good deeds must be performed with discernment and in their proper context, not blindly.