Excess and wastefulness lead to greed, and greed has consequences:
The First Consequence of Greed is dissatisfaction
and as for dissatisfaction, it destroys endeavor and enthusiasm for work, and causes the dissatisfied person to complain instead of giving thanks, and makes him lazy. Such a person abandons possessions which though few in number are licit and seeks possessions that are illicit and trouble-free. He sacrifices his self-respect on the way and even his honor.
The Second Consequence of Greed is disappointment and loss.
The greedy person drives away what he wishes for, is found disagreeable, and is deprived of assistance and help. He even confirms the saying: “The greedy person is unsuccessful and suffers loss.”
Greed and contentment have their effects in the animal kingdom in accordance with an extensive law. For instance, the natural contentment of trees needy for sustenance makes their sustenance hasten to them; this shows the huge benefits of contentment. While animals’ running after their sustenance greedily and with difficulty and deficiency demonstrates the great loss of greed.
* The contentment apparent through their tongues of disposition of the helpless young and a pleasant food like milk flowing out to them from an unexpected place, while wild animals greedily attack their deficient and dirty sustenance, prove our claim in a clear fashion.
* The contented attitude of fat fish being the means of their perfect sustenance, and intelligent animals like foxes and monkeys remaining puny and weak because they cannot find sufficient sustenance although they pursue it with greed, again show the degree to which greed is the cause of hardship and contentment the cause of ease.
* Certain people finding through greed, usury, and trickery their degrading, miserable, illicit sustenance only at subsistence level, and the contented attitude of nomads and their living with dignity and finding sufficient sustenance, proves decisively what we say once more.
Also, many scholars and literary figures being reduced to poverty because of the greed arising from their intelligence, and many stupid and incapable people becoming rich due to their innate contentedness proves decisively that licit sustenance comes because of impotence and want, not by virtue of ability and will. Indeed, licit sustenance is in inverse proportion to ability and will.
For the more children increase in ability and will, the more their sustenance decreases, the further it is from them and the more difficult it to digest. According to Hadith
“Contentment is an unfailing treasure”
contentment is a treasury of good living and ease of life, while greed is a mine of loss and abasement.
Inspired By the works of Master Said Nursi
