The beautiful character of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه و سلم
One day, a poor man brought a bunch of grapes to the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم as a gift. He was very excited to be able to bring a gift for him.
He placed the grapes beside the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, please accept this small gift from me’.
He was a poor man who could not afford more. His face beamed with happiness as he offered his small gift. It was evident that he loved the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم a lot.
The Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم thanked him graciously. As the man looked at him expectantly, the Prophet ate one grape.
The Prophet smiled at him. Then the Prophet ate another one.
Slowly the Prophet finished the whole bunch of grapes by himself. He did not offer the grapes to anyone present.
The poor man who brought those grapes was very pleased and left happily.
The companions of the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم who were around him were surprised.
Usually the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم shared whatever he got with them. He would offer them whatever he was given and they would eat it together.
He would usually start first, out of respect to the person who had given him the gift, but he would always offer it to others.
This time had been different. Without offering it to anyone, the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم finished the bunch of grapes by himself.
One of the companions asked most respectfully, “O Messenger of Allah! How come you ate all the grapes by yourself and did not offer to any one of us present?”
The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه و سلم smiled and said, “I ate all the grapes by myself because the grapes were sour.
If I had offered you them, you might have made faces and shown your distaste of the grapes. That would have hurt the feelings of the man.
I thought to myself that it’s better that I eat all of them cheerfully and pleased the poor man. I did not want to hurt the feelings of that man.”
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Subhan’Allah.. Such was the beautiful, faultless character of our beloved Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah ta'ala be upon him
Morals:
1) Consideration for the feelings of others.*
2) Graciousness in accepting gifts.