Hadith: A man from the Children of Israel asked another to lend him one thousand dinars

عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : أنَّه ذكر رجلًا من بني إسرائيل، سأل بعضَ بني إسرائيل أن يُسْلِفَه ألفَ دينار، فقال: ائْتِنِي بالشهداء أُشْهِدُهم، فقال: كفى بالله شهيدًا، قال: فَأْتِنِي بالكَفِيل، قال: كَفَى بالله كفيلًا، قال: صَدَقتَ، فَدَفَعَها إِليه إلى أجل مُسَمَّى، فخرج في البحر فقَضَى حَاجَتَه، ثُمَّ التَمَسَ مركَبًا يَرْكَبُها يَقْدَم عليه لِلأَجَل الذي أجَّله، فلم يجِد مركَبًا، فأَخَذَ خَشَبَة فَنَقَرَها، فَأَدْخَل فِيهَا أَلفَ دِينَار وصَحِيفَة مِنْه إلى صاحبه، ثم زَجَّجَ مَوضِعَها، ثمَّ أَتَى بِهَا إِلَى البحر، فقال: اللَّهُمَّ إنَّك تعلم أنِّي كنتُ تَسَلَّفتُ فلانًا ألف دِينَار، فَسَأَلَنِي كفيلًا، فقلتُ: كفى بالله كفيلًا، فَرَضِيَ بك، وسأَلَنِي شهيدًا، فقلتُ: كفى بالله شهيدًا، فرضِي بك، وأنِّي جَهَدتُ أنْ أَجِدَ مَركَبا أَبعث إليه الذي لَه فَلَم أَقدِر، وإنِّي أسْتَوْدِعُكَها. فرمى بها في البحر حتَّى وَلَجِت فيه، ثم انْصَرف وهو في ذلك يلتمس مركبا يخرج إلى بلده، فخرج الرجل الذي كان أسلفه، ينظُر لعلَّ مَركَبًا قد جاء بماله، فَإِذا بِالخَشَبَة التي فيها المال، فأَخَذَها لِأهله حَطَبًا، فلمَّا نَشَرَها وجَد المالَ والصحِيفة، ثمَّ قدِم الذي كان أسلفه، فأتى بالألف دينار، فقال: والله ما زلتُ جاهدًا في طلب مركب لآتيك بمالك، فما وجدتُ مركبا قبل الذي أتيتُ فيه، قال: هل كنتَ بعثتَ إليَّ بشيء؟ قال: أُخبِرك أنِّي لم أجِد مركبا قبل الذي جئتُ فيه، قال: فإنَّ الله قد أدَّى عنك الذي بعثتَ في الخشبة، فانصرِف بالألف الدينار راشدًا».
[صحيح] - [رواه البخاري]

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned that a man from the Children of Israel asked another to lend him one thousand dinars. The man asked him to bring witnesses. The former replied: "Allah is sufficient as witness." The second said: "Bring me a surety." The former replied: "Allah is sufficient as surety." The man said: "You are right," and lent him the money for a certain period. The first man went across the sea. When he finished his job, he searched for a conveyance so that he might reach the other in time for the repayment of the debt, but he could not find any. So he took a piece of wood and made a hole in it, inserted one thousand dinars and a letter to the lender in it, and then firmly closed (i.e. sealed) the hole. He took the piece of wood to the sea and said: "O Allah, You know well that I took a loan of one thousand dinars from so-and-so. He demanded a surety from me, but I told him that Allah's guarantee was sufficient, and he accepted Your guarantee. He then asked for a witness, and I told him that Allah was sufficient as witness, and he accepted You as Witness. No doubt, I tried hard to find a conveyance so that I could give him his money, but I could not find any, so I hand over this money to You." Saying that, he threw the piece of wood into the sea till it went out far into it, and then he went away. Meanwhile, he started searching for a conveyance in order to reach the creditor's country. One day, the lender came out to see whether a ship had arrived bringing his money, when all of a sudden, he saw the piece of wood in which his money had been deposited. He took it home to use it for fire. When he sawed it, he found his money and the letter inside it. Shortly after that, the debtor came, bringing one thousand dinars to him, and he said: "By Allah, I had been trying hard to find a boat so that I could send you your money, but I failed to find one before the one I have come by." The lender asked: "Have you sent something to me?" The debtor replied: "I told you I could not find a boat other than the one I have come by." The lender said: "Allah has delivered the money which you sent in the piece of wood on your behalf. So you may keep your one thousand dinars and depart while being guided on the straight path."
[Authentic hadith] - [Narrated by Bukhari]

Explanation

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned that a man from the Children of Israel requested a loan of one thousand dinars from another man. The man said to him: "Bring someone to bear witness that you have taken one thousand dinars." The man who needed the loan said: "Allah is sufficient as witness", meaning: it is sufficient for both of us that Allah is a witness over us. Then the man said to him: "Bring me a surety." So he said: "Allah is sufficient as surety", meaning: Allah is sufficient for you as a guarantee. So he replied: "You are right." So he gave him one thousand dinar for a specific period of time. So the man who requested the loan went on a ship in the ocean with the money with him in order to do business. When the appointed time to repay the loan came, he searched for a boat so that he could repay the man he took the loan from, but he did not find any. He took a piece of wood and made a hole in it and put the one thousand dinars inside the wood along with a letter from him to the debtor, saying: "From so-and-so, to so-and-so: I paid your money to an agent who will pay you on behalf of me." Then he covered the hole in the wood and sealed it. Then he took the piece of wood to the ocean and said: "O Allah you know that I have borrowed one thousand dinars from this person, and he asked me for a guarantor, and I said: 'Allah is sufficient as guarantor,' and he was pleased with you as guarantor. And he asked me for a witness and I said to him: 'Allah is sufficient as witness,' and he was pleased as you as witness. I exerted my effort in trying to find a boat to send the money that I owed, but I was not able to find any boat. And I leave it with you as a trust and deposit." Then he threw the piece of wood into the ocean until it disappeared inside the water. He left and continued to search for a boat that was going to the country of the man whom he borrowed one thousand dinar from, thinking that what he initially did was insufficient. As for the debtor, he went outside at the time of payment, looking for the boat that may be coming with his money that he lent to the man, expecting that he might send it with someone or come by himself. However, he did not find any boat. Suddenly, he saw the piece of wood that contained the money and took it to his house to use it for firewood, and he did not know that the money was inside. When he cut it with a saw, he found the money and the letter that the man had written. Then the man who had taken the loan came with another one thousand dinars. He said to the man who had given him the loan: "I exerted my efforts greatly in searching for a boat to come to you and pay back your loan, but I did not find any boat before now." The debtor said: "Did you send anything to me?" He said: "I am telling you that I did not find any boat before this boat that I came by now." Thereupon, the debtor said to him: "Allah has paid the one thousand dinars that you sent in the piece of wood on your behalf, so you may leave with the other one thousand dinars while being guided on the straight path."