The smell of hot, fresh bread spread throughout the street.
The old man approached the baker. He needed to buy hot bread for his grandson. The child had been asking for fresh bread for days.
People were standing in line to buy bread. He took his place in line.
There weren't many people, and his turn came quickly.
He took the change from his pocket. If he had had enough, he would have bought two loaves. But when he held out the coins, the baker did not take the money and handed him a bag.
“Take these, uncle, and enjoy them.”
There were three loaves of bread in the package.
“Son, I was going to buy one loaf.”
“Take all three. You can save some for later.”
The grandfather slowly approached the baker and whispered in his ear:
“I only have enough money for one.”
The baker smiled:
“Uncle, this is a share from us. It’s Friday, and every Friday we give away three hot loaves. Enjoy them.”
“May Allah be pleased with you, my son.”
“Amen.”
He had just left the bakery when someone called out to the grandfather:
“Uncle! Uncle!”
The grandfather turned and looked:
“Yes, my son?”
“This is my mother’s zakat. I would be very glad if you accepted it.”
The young man put an envelope in the old man's pocket.
“May Allah accept it, my son. May Allah be pleased with your mother.”
As he passed the market, a woman called to him:
“Uncle, please wait a moment.”
The old man stopped and looked in the direction from which the voice came. A young woman handed him two full bags:
“Uncle, during Ramadan we are giving food to people passing by. Please accept these bags. We’d be so glad if you took them.”
“May Allah accept your kindness, my daughter.”
“Amen.”
The old man reached home with difficulty, exhausted.
“Welcome home, Father.”
“Where’s your mother?”
“In the kitchen. She said she would cook eggs; Orkhan loves kaygana.”
“Take these bags to her, please. My back is aching.”
“Grandpa, did you get hot bread?” his grandson asked.
“Yes, I have bought many things.”
“Hooray for Grandpa!”
“But Dad, this morning you didn’t even have money for tea.”
“Allah provided, my daughter.”
His wife entered the room:
“You’ve bought so much, husband!”
“These are a share,” he said.
The man told what had happened one by one.
When the call to prayer sounded, they broke their fast with kaygana and hot bread. The hot bread was just right. The bags also held butter and cheese, which they enjoyed with tea.
“Yes, it turned out wonderfully. Thank Allah. May He accept their kindness. The halva is delicious too.”
After eating, his grandson stood up.
“I’m going to my room to pray again,” he said, and his grandfather was surprised.
“Isn’t it early? You can pray before bed,” his grandfather said.
“I prayed at this time yesterday for hot bread and cheese, and look what came! Now I’ll ask Allah to send money for your teeth. Your teeth are bad, and you can hardly chew your food.”
His mother smiled:
“I wish your late father could see these days.”
“He comes into my dreams every night and sees all this. He told me to pray.”
The old man suddenly remembered his jacket. He went to the hanger, put his hand in his pocket and took out the envelope. There was a large amount of money in the envelope.
His eyes filled with tears.
“What is it? Why are you crying?”
“The Lord has sent everything our grandson wished for. Look—there’s enough here for both of us to have our teeth fixed before the holiday. Praise be to Allah!”
Moral: A child’s sincere prayer and a few generous hearts can remedy a family’s trouble. In a society that knows how to give, no one goes hungry.
Stories are taken from open Internet sources; illustrations were created with AI.
