That which makes the poor rich
Discontentment and ingratitude are traits of the Satan whose ungratefulness exiled him from the abode of Allah’s mercy. These two traits are most often induced by greed. This lends credence to the proposition that every discontented person is unthankful and greedy. Contentment is not just about monetary issues as it also transcends all spheres of life including political, social or religious matters.
Allah (SWT) created Adam (A.S) and his wife, Hawwau to dwell in the eternal garden; warning both of them to stay away from a particular tree and not to eat of its fruits. But Adam (AS) and his wife were both tempted by their worse enemy, Satan, to eat from the tree. Satan whispered evil to Adam (AS) saying “O Adam! Shall I lead you to tree of eternity and to a kingdom that never degenerates?” unfortunately, they both disobeyed Allah (STW) and thus ate from the tree; whence their nakedness appeared to them.
Consequently, Allah (STW) said to both of them (as contained in Qur’an 20:123) to get down (to the earth) from the Garden. This was how Adam (AS) lost his residence in the Garden. Had Adam not listened to Satan who advised him and his wife to go against Allah’s injunction on the forbidden fruit), both of them (Adam and Hawwau wouldn’t have been brought down to this thorny but complicated planet and no man would thus have experienced the complex challenges of contemporary times. Greed signified in discontentment, therefore, marked the beginning of Adam’s problems; and yet remains one of man’s critical “ailments” of the heart.
Riches are not from abundance of physical assets but from a contented mind. It has always been Satan’s wish to lead man in to disobedience through discontentment. An ungrateful person always looks at those who have more in terms of money, farmlands, cars, houses or estates. Such a person may never find contentment because Allah (SWT) has designed the natural scheme of things in such a way that, over every possessor of a particular favuor is another. Man is urged to look at those who have less. Let us not use the physical abilities, wealth, health, knowledge, status or personality of others to determine how rich or poor, or how highly or lowly placed we are. Much gratitude lies in our ability to appreciate Allah’s bounties as we have less or none at all. Contentment is tantamount to acknowledging the contrast between “the haves” on the one hand, and the “haves not” on the other.
A discontentment mind suffers from a variety of illnesses; one leading to another. They include emotional instability and a longing desire to always