Hidden Goodness

Three people wanted to assassinate the Holy Prophet (s). The Holy Prophet of God said, “My dear Ali, capture them as they are coming. Two of them will resist. Kill them. But, the third one is like ‘this and that.’ Keep him! Don’t kill him! You shouldn’t kill him. Capture him.” Imam Ali (‘a) went and they fought. He killed two of them. He kept the third one. The third one felt very bad that he had been captured. He said, “Kill me too, and let me join my friends!” The Imam said, “No, let’s go.” “Where do you want to take me?!” “I want to take you to the Prophet whom you wanted to assassinate.” They brought him to the Prophet. He was still complaining. The Holy Prophet said, “My God has told me not to kill you.” He asked, “Why?” The Prophet said, “Because you have a goodness, which you hide.” “What is it?” The Prophet replied, “You help the poor and the orphans. You don’t do this to show off. You truly are generous.” The man asked, “Your God likes these things? I believe in you.”