The Thousand Dinars That Crossed the Sea

A very long time ago, among the Children of Israel, there were two men who made an agreement.

One of them needed money.

So he asked the other to lend him a thousand dinars.

It was a large sum.

Before handing over the money, the lender asked him:

— Bring me witnesses to testify between us.

The man replied:

— Allah is sufficient as a witness.

The lender then asked him:

— Bring me someone to guarantee for you.

The man replied:

— Allah is sufficient as a guarantor.

The lender said to him:

— You have spoken the truth.

Then he handed him the thousand dinars.

The two men set a specific date by which the sum had to be returned.

Then the borrower went away by sea to do what he had to do.

The days passed.

Then the weeks.

And little by little, the agreed date approached.

The man had not forgotten his debt.

He knew he had made a commitment.

He had to return the thousand dinars to their owner.

So he went to the seashore and looked for a boat that could take him to the land where his creditor was.

But no boat was leaving.

He waited.

He searched again.

Still nothing.

Yet the date was approaching.

The man did not want to break his word.

So he thought of a way to get the money to its owner.

He took a piece of wood.

He hollowed it out carefully.

Inside, he placed the thousand dinars.

Then he also slipped in a letter addressed to the man who had lent him the money.

He closed the piece of wood securely.

Then he carried it to the seashore.

Before him stretched a vast expanse of water.

Then the man turned to Allah.

He said that he had borrowed a thousand dinars from that man.

He reminded that he had been asked for a guarantor and he had replied:

— Allah is sufficient as a guarantor.

He also reminded that he had been asked for a witness and he had replied:

— Allah is sufficient as a witness.

He explained that he had looked for a boat to return the money, but he had found none.

Then he entrusted this deposit to Allah.

And he threw the piece of wood into the sea.

The wood fell into the water.

The waves began to carry it away.

It gradually moved away from the shore.

Until it disappeared in the distance.

But the man did not go home thinking that everything was over.

He continued to look for a boat.

He still wanted to go himself to his creditor.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the sea, the man who had lent the thousand dinars was waiting.

The appointed day had arrived.

He went near the water.

He looked into the distance.

Perhaps a boat would appear.

Perhaps the man who owed him money would arrive.

But no boat came.

While he was near the shore, he saw something floating on the water.

It was not a boat.

It was not a box.

It was simply...

a piece of wood.

He picked it up.

He thought he could take it home so his family could use it as firewood.

He did not know what it contained.

Once home, he began to cut the piece of wood.

And then...

he discovered something incredible.

Inside were a thousand dinars.

Exactly the sum that was owed to him.

And with the money, he also found a letter.

The piece of wood had crossed the sea to reach him.

Some time later, the borrower finally found a boat.

He could now join the other man.

But he did not know if the piece of wood had arrived.

He did not know if the thousand dinars had reached their destination.

So he took with him...

another thousand dinars.

He boarded the boat and crossed the sea.

When he finally arrived at his creditor's place, he presented the money to him.

He explained that he had looked for a boat for a long time to come to him and that he had found none before this one.

The other man listened to him.

Then he asked him:

— Did you send me something?

The borrower explained that he had found no boat before the one he had just taken.

Then his creditor understood what had happened.

He told him that Allah had already delivered the thousand dinars he had placed in the piece of wood.

His debt was already paid.

He could therefore leave with the thousand dinars he had just brought.

And that is how a simple piece of wood arrived exactly into the hands of the one who was meant to receive it.