The Table-Talk of MuhammadIslamScripture SelectionArabic source tradition rendered through EnglishShareTable-Talk of Muhammad 3Stanley Lane-Poole 1882 - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availableStanley Lane-Poole 1882LanguageEnglishEspañol‹Table-Talk of Muhammad 1Table-Talk of Muhammad 2Table-Talk of Muhammad 3Table-Talk of Muhammad 4Table-Talk of Muhammad 5Table-Talk of Muhammad 6Table-Talk of Muhammad 7Table-Talk of Muhammad 8Table-Talk of Muhammad 9Table-Talk of Muhammad 10Table-Talk of Muhammad 11Table-Talk of Muhammad 12Table-Talk of Muhammad 13Table-Talk of Muhammad 14Table-Talk of Muhammad 15Table-Talk of Muhammad 16›Of CharityTable-Talk of Muhammad 3ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1When God created the earth, it began to shake and tremble; then God created mountains, and put them upon the earth, and the land became firm and fixed; and the angels were astonished at the hardness of the hills, and said, “O God, is there anything of thy creation harder than hills?” and God said, “Yes, water is harder than the hills, because it breaketh them.” Then the angel said, “O Lord, is there anything of thy creation harder than water?” He said, “Yes, wind overcometh water: it doth agitate it and put it in motion.” They said, “O our Lord! is there anything of thy creation harder than wind?” He said, “Yes, the children of Adam giving alms: those who give with their right hand, and conceal from their left, overcome all.” 2The liberal man is near the pleasure of God and is near Paradise, which he shall enter into, and is near the hearts of men as a friend, and he is distant from hell; but the niggard is far from God’s pleasure and from paradise, and far from the hearts of men, and near the Fire; and verily a liberal ignorant man is more beloved by God than a niggardly worshipper. 3A man’s giving in alms one piece of silver in his lifetime is better for him than giving one hundred when about to die. 4Think not that any good act is contemptible, though it be but your brother’s coming to you with an open countenance and good humour. 5There is alms for a man’s every joint, every day in which the sun riseth; doing justice between two people is alms; and assisting a man upon his beast, and his baggage, is alms; and pure words, for which are rewards; and answering a questioner with mildness is alms, and every step which is made toward prayer is alms, and removing that which is an inconvenience to man, such as stones and thorns, is alms. 6The people of the Prophet’s house killed a goat, and the Prophet said, “What remaineth of it?” They said, “Nothing but the shoulder; for they have sent the whole to the poor and neighbours, except a shoulder which remaineth.” The Prophet said, “Nay, it is the whole goat that remaineth except its shoulder: that remaineth which they have given away, the rewards of which will be eternal, and what remaineth in the house is fleeting.” 7Feed the hungry, visit the sick, and free the captive if he be unjustly bound. ‹Previous chapterTable-Talk of Muhammad 2Next chapterTable-Talk of Muhammad 4›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public domain in the United States via Project Gutenberg