When he had circumambulated the Ka’bah and offered his prayers...

When he had circumambulated the Ka’bah and offered his prayers, he came out of the mosque and found his camel missing. He looked up towards the sky. “It has been said in the holy Shari’ah that property should be sought from one, unto whom it has been placed as trust. I had entrusted my camel unto You, so return my camel to me,” he said.

Hardly had he uttered these words when I observed that someone emerged from behind the mountain of Abu Qubais, with the rein of a camel in the left hand and the right hand severed and suspended from his neck. He came close to the Bedouin. “O’ Youth! Take hold of your camel,” he said. “Who are you and how did you land up in this state?” asked the Bedouin. “I was impoverished and needy and hence stole your camel,” said the stranger.

“I went behind the mountain of Abu Qubais when I suddenly noticed a rider coming towards me. As he came closer to me, he shouted out: Bring your hand forward.

When I had extended my hand, he severed it with a stroke of his sword and, hanging it on my neck, said to me: Return this camel to its owner immediately.” [^4] Buhul and the Thief Whenever Buhul happened to have money in excess of his expenses, he used to save it by concealing it in one corner of a ruined and broken down house; this continued till the amount eventually reached a figure of three hundred dirhams.

The next occasion when he had saved another ten dirhams and had gone to the place to add it to his concealed savings, a trader who lived in the neighbourhood, found out about the hideout. As soon as Buhul had left the hiding place, the neighbour dug up the money that was concealed beneath the ground. The next time when Bulool came to the place, he found his money missing and immediately realized that it was the work of the trader. He decided to approach the trader.

“I wish to trouble you by telling you about my secret,” Buhul said to the trader. “I have placed my money in different places.” Then he began enumerating the places till the entire figure reached three thousand dirhams. “The place where I have placed three hundred and ten dirhams is the safest of them all. I now wish to transfer all my money to this place in the ruined house.” Saying this, he bid the trader goodbye and left.

The trader decided to return the three hundred and ten dirhams to the place from where he had stolen the money with the intention that when Buhul placed all his money there, he would steal the increased amount.