Unit 7 — The Two Bargains

Complete Solved Exercises

Textbook: English 9, KP Textbook Board — Unit 7, pp.64–74
Theme: Justice / generosity
Grammar: Adverbs and adverbials — kinds, position, degrees, adverbial phrases, adverb clauses
Writing: Paragraph writing, essay writing, summary, translation

THE TWO BARGAINS — what they are

Both bargains show the same truth: Hazrat Usman (R.A) always traded worldly profit for heavenly reward.

COMPREHENSION (pp.69–70)

A. Answer the following questions

1. Why did Hazrat Umar (R.A) weep?
During the famine Hazrat Umar (R.A) had gone on raising his offer for Hazrat Usman's (R.A) thousand camel-loads of flour — from 25% profit to 50%, to 100%, then three, four, five and finally nine times the price — and Hazrat Usman (R.A) had refused every offer. Hazrat Umar (R.A) grew angry and accused him of having become hard-hearted. Then Hazrat Usman (R.A) stood up calmly and said, "Umar, I have already sold my stock. The buyer is Allah who has promised to pay me at least ten times the price as profit and may raise it to seventy or even seven hundred times. Go and distribute the flour among the people in the name of Allah."
The Caliph was so touched by this generosity that he wept. He then embraced Hazrat Usman (R.A) and begged forgiveness for the harsh words he had used earlier.

2. Why did the Jew agree to Hazrat Usman's (R.A) offer?
At first the Jew did not agree to sell the well at all. But then he thought that it would be more profitable to make Hazrat Usman (R.A) a partner, because he was a rich businessman. He therefore agreed to sell half of his share for twelve thousand dirhams, on the condition that Hazrat Usman (R.A) would receive all the income from the well on one day and the Jew on the next. He hoped that a wealthy partner would bring him even greater profit.

3. What simple steps can you incorporate into your life to foster generosity?
(A personal answer. Model:)

I can foster generosity in my life by a few simple, daily steps. First, I can share what I already have — my books, my lunch, my notes — with classmates who need them. Secondly, I can give my time and energy, not only my money: helping a weak student with his homework, or helping an old neighbour carry his shopping, costs nothing but kindness. Thirdly, I can save a little in order to be able to give; if I set aside even ten rupees a week from my pocket money, I shall have something ready for someone in need. Fourthly, I can be kind and encouraging in my speech, because a good word is also charity. Finally, I should learn to expect nothing in return, and never remind anyone of a favour I have done. As the Teacher's Guideline says, generosity is not only giving money but giving your time and energy too.

4. How did the Jew learn a bitter lesson?
The Jew had made the bargain hoping to make more money out of a rich partner. But when Hazrat Usman (R.A) offered his share in the well to the Holy Prophet (S.A.W), it was proclaimed in Medina that on the day appointed for Hazrat Usman (R.A) everyone could carry as much water as he liked free of cost. The Muslims as well as the Jews made full use of this generosity and carried enough water to last for the next day as well. So on the Jew's own day nobody came to buy water. Whereas he had hoped to make more money, he made none at all. That was the bitter lesson — greed had ruined his own trade. In the end he had to go to Hazrat Usman (R.A) and offer to sell the other half of the well too.

5. What is the role of generosity in Islamic history?
Generosity has always been one of the highest virtues in Islamic history. Islam teaches that wealth is a trust from Allah and that spending it in His way brings a reward many times greater. The lives of the Companions are full of such examples. Hazrat Usman (R.A) bought the well of Bair-e-Roma and gave it free to the people of Madina, and later gave away a thousand camel-loads of flour in a famine without taking a single dirham; for such acts he earned the title of Ghani (the Generous). Hazrat Abu Bakr (R.A) brought his entire property at the time of the Battle of Tabuk, and Hazrat Umar (R.A) brought half of his. The Holy Prophet (S.A.W) himself was the most generous of all men. Because of this spirit, Islamic society built wells, mosques, schools and endowments (Waqf) for the public good, and the poor, the orphans and the travellers were cared for. Generosity thus became the foundation of social welfare in Islam.

6. "Service to humanity is liked by Allah." Elaborate.
Islam teaches that the best of people are those who are most useful to others. The Holy Prophet (S.A.W) said, "The best among you is the one who benefits people the most." Allah does not need our wealth; He has commanded us to spend it on His creation, and He treats service done to human beings as service done to Him. That is exactly what this lesson shows. When Hazrat Usman (R.A) gave the water of Bair-e-Roma free to the whole population — Muslims and Jews alike — he was "purchasing paradise," as the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) had promised. When he refused nine times profit and said that Allah was his buyer, he understood that feeding hungry people during a famine is a transaction with Allah Himself, who repays ten, seventy or seven hundred times over. Serving humanity therefore removes selfishness from the heart, relieves the suffering of the weak, binds society together in love, and above all wins the pleasure of Allah, which is the greatest reward of all.

7. What did Hazrat Usman (R.A) do when the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) said, "Is there anyone here who would like to purchase paradise for himself in return for Bair-e-Roma?"
Hazrat Usman (R.A) stood up and went out quietly, without saying a word or making any display. He went straight to the Jew who owned the well and offered to buy it from him. When the Jew refused to sell the whole well, Hazrat Usman (R.A) bought half of his share for twelve thousand dirhams, on the terms that the income of the well would be his on one day and the Jew's on the next. He then returned to the Masjid and offered his share in the well to the Holy Prophet (S.A.W).

8. Why did Hazrat Usman (R.A) keep on rejecting the offer of Hazrat Umar (R.A)?
Hazrat Usman (R.A) kept rejecting the Caliph's offers — 25%, 50%, 100%, three times, four times, five times and finally nine times the price — because he had already sold the whole stock to Allah. He said he had "another buyer who is offering me much more," and when Hazrat Umar (R.A) reproached him for being hard-hearted, he replied that he was only doing business and would sell his goods to the one who would give him the greatest profit. He finally explained that his buyer was Allah, who had promised at least ten times the price as profit and might raise it to seventy or even seven hundred times. He then asked the Caliph to distribute the whole quantity of flour free among the people in the name of Allah.

9. Identify a real-life situation or problem that could be improved with generosity, and how will you display personal generosity in that situation?
(A personal answer. Model:)

In my own locality there are several children who work at a tea stall or collect scrap instead of going to school, because their families cannot afford books, uniforms and fees. This is a real problem that generosity could improve.
I would begin with what is within my reach. I would collect my own used textbooks, notebooks and uniform from last year and give them to two such children, and persuade my classmates to do the same, so that the cost of starting school disappears. Next, I would give my time: three evenings a week I could teach them to read and write, free of charge, in our own courtyard. I would also save a part of my pocket money every month and, with the help of my father, pay the admission fee of at least one child. Finally, I would speak to the shopkeeper who employs them and to their parents, and try to convince them that education will earn the family far more in the long run.
I would do all this quietly, as Hazrat Usman (R.A) did when he "stood up and went out quietly," and I would expect nothing in return.

B. Choose the correct answer

Note on Q5: the key word is everyone — the proclamation applied to Jews as well as Muslims. That is why the text says, "The Muslims as well as the Jews made full use of Hazrat Usman's generosity." Option (a) is wrong because it limits the offer to Muslims.

VOCABULARY (p.70)

A. Look up the meanings and make sentences to bring out the difference

1. Difference between 'fetch' and 'bring'

2. Difference between 'famous' and 'notorious'

3. Difference between 'crime' and 'sin'

Note: an act may be both (murder), only a crime (parking illegally), or only a sin (backbiting).

4. Difference between 'desert' and 'barren'

B. Write the contextual meanings of the following words

WRITING (p.71)

A. Write an essay of about 100–150 words on "Generosity" using the mind map

Mind-map branches: being sympathetic towards people · share money, time and energy with others · save in order to be able to give · to make others' lives easier and pleasant · be kind and encouraging · not expect anything in return

Generosity

Generosity is the willingness to give money, time, kindness or help to others freely. It is one of the noblest qualities a human being can possess, and Islam has given it a very high place.

A generous person is first of all sympathetic towards people. He feels the pain of others as if it were his own, and this feeling moves him to act. He is ready to share his money, his time and his energy with those who need them, for generosity is not only giving money; giving your time to help a weak student or an old neighbour is generosity too. A truly generous man also saves in order to be able to give — he lives simply so that he may have something ready for others.

The purpose of all this is to make other people's lives easier and pleasanter. A generous person is therefore always kind and encouraging in his words as well as his deeds, because a good word costs nothing and heals much. Above all, he expects nothing in return — no praise, no thanks and no repayment.

The finest example is Hazrat Usman (R.A). He bought the well of Bair-e-Roma and gave its water free to everyone in Madina, and during a famine he refused nine times profit on a thousand camel-loads of flour because, as he said, he had already sold his stock to Allah. He gave quietly, generously and without expecting any worldly return. If we follow such an example, society will be free from hunger, hatred and inequality.

C. Your grandfather has left you money but you have to spend some amount in helping mankind / the underprivileged. How will you do it?

If my grandfather left me money on the condition that I spend part of it on helping the less fortunate, I would plan the spending carefully so that it does lasting good rather than being consumed in a day.

First, I would spend a portion on education, because it is the surest way out of poverty. I would pay the fees, books and uniforms of ten poor children of my locality for a full year, and would keep paying as long as they continued to study well.

Secondly, I would spend a part on health. Many families in our area cannot afford medicines. I would arrange a free medical camp with a local doctor and buy a stock of common medicines for a small dispensary.

Thirdly, I would spend on something permanent, following the example of Hazrat Usman (R.A). Instead of only giving cash, which is soon finished, I would install a water filtration plant or a hand pump in a poor street, so that clean water remains available to everybody, free of cost, for years to come. This is exactly what an endowment (Waqf) means.

Finally, I would keep a small amount for emergencies — a widow's rent, an orphan's medicine, a labourer's sudden loss.

I would do all of this quietly, without publicity, and would never remind anyone of the help given, for charity loses its value the moment it is used to buy praise.

D. Write down the summary of the lesson "The Two Bargains"

Summary

Arabia is a desert land where water is scarce, and in olden days people had to travel long distances to fetch it. When the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) migrated to Medina there was only one well of sweet water in the town, called Bair-e-Roma. It was owned by a Jew who sold its water at a high price, and the Prophet's companions, who were generally poor, found it hard to get water. When they told the Prophet (S.A.W) of their condition, he asked in the Masjid, "Is there anyone here who would like to purchase paradise for himself in return for Bair-e-Roma?" Hazrat Usman (R.A) rose quietly and went to the Jew. The Jew, hoping to profit from a rich partner, sold him half his share for twelve thousand dirhams, the income to go to each on alternate days. Hazrat Usman (R.A) offered his share to the Prophet (S.A.W), and it was proclaimed that on his day everyone might take as much water as he liked free of cost. People took enough for two days, so the Jew earned nothing and had to sell the other half as well, which Hazrat Usman (R.A) generously bought at his price and dedicated as an endowment to Madina.

Later, during a famine in the days of Caliph Umar (R.A), a thousand camel-loads of flour belonging to Hazrat Usman (R.A) reached Medina. The Caliph offered to buy the whole stock, raising his offer from 25% profit to nine times the price, but Hazrat Usman (R.A) refused every offer, saying he had another buyer who was offering more. When the angry Caliph accused him of hard-heartedness, he replied calmly that he had already sold his stock to Allah, who had promised ten, seventy or even seven hundred times the price, and asked that the flour be distributed among the people in the name of Allah. The Caliph wept, embraced him and begged forgiveness, and the flour was distributed happily and generously.

E. Read the passage and answer the following questions

Passage: "The Jew learnt a bitter lesson. Whereas he had hoped to make more money, he made none at all. He went to Hazrat Usman (R.A) and offered to sell the other half of the well also. Hazrat Usman (R.A) could have refused to buy it, for the Muslims had no longer any difficulty, but such was his generosity that he paid the Jew whatever he asked for his share. The well was dedicated as an endowment to the people of Madina. The well exists in Medina to this day and is known as Baire Usman or Usman's well."

I. What is the main idea of the passage?
The main idea is that the greedy Jew was ruined by his own greed, while the generosity of Hazrat Usman (R.A) was boundless. Although the Muslims no longer needed the well and Hazrat Usman (R.A) could easily have refused, he paid the Jew whatever price he asked and then dedicated the whole well as an endowment to the people of Madina — where it still stands today as Baire Usman.

II. Locate at least three adjectives.
bitter (lesson), more (money), other (half), any (difficulty). (Also: his generosity — possessive adjective.)

III. Identify the tense of the passage.
The passage is written in the past tense — mainly the simple past (learnt, made, went, offered, paid, was dedicated) with one past perfect (he had hoped). The last sentence, however, shifts to the present tense (The well exists in Medina to this day and is known as Baire Usman), because it states a fact that is still true.

IV. Why did the Jew go to Hazrat Usman (R.A)?
He went to Hazrat Usman (R.A) to offer to sell him the other half of the well. Since everyone drew two days' water free on Hazrat Usman's day, nobody bought water on the Jew's day, so his share had become worthless to him.

LISTENING & SPEAKING (p.72)

Task: Work in pairs and express your ideas on economic inequality in society and how it can be minimised.

Points to raise:

• The problem: a small number of people own most of the wealth while millions live below the poverty line; the poor cannot afford education or health care, so their children remain poor — the cycle repeats.
• Causes: unemployment, illiteracy, hoarding and profiteering (like the Jew of the well), unfair wages, corruption, and lack of a proper tax system.
• Islamic remedies: Zakat (compulsory), Sadaqah (voluntary), the prohibition of interest (riba) and of hoarding, the law of inheritance which divides wealth instead of concentrating it, and Waqf or endowment — exactly what Hazrat Usman (R.A) did with Bair-e-Roma.
• Practical steps: free and compulsory education, skill training so people can earn, fair minimum wages, progressive taxation, honest distribution of relief goods during disasters, and encouraging the rich to spend on permanent public facilities — wells, schools, hospitals — rather than on display.

GRAMMAR — ADVERBS AND ADVERBIALS (pp.72–74)

Adverbs are words used to modify verbs. They can also modify adjectives and other adverbs.
An adverbial is a word, phrase or clause that does the job of an adverb.

A. Fill in the blanks with suitable adverbs from the box

Frequency scale: always 100% · usually 80% · often 60% · sometimes 40% · occasionally 20% · once 10% · never 0%

Note on Q6: very is not an adverb of frequency at all — it is an adverb of degree, and here it modifies the adjective helpful. This is the one item in the list that tests a different kind of adverb.

B. Rewrite the sentences, adding the adverb in the correct place

Rule of position: adverbs of frequency (rarely, always, often) go before the main verb but after the verb 'be' — hence "She is rarely at home." Adverbs of manner (quietly, attentively) usually come after the verb or after the object.

Comparative, Superlative and Positive degrees of adverbs (theory from the book)

• Comparative adverbs compare the action of two people or things — Samina ran faster than Jameela.
• Superlative adverbs compare the action of a group larger than two — Sikandar sang loudest in the choir.
• Adverbs ending in -ly: comparative adds more (more sweetly), superlative adds most (most sweetly).
• Short adverbs (hard, fast, early, late): comparative -er (later), superlative -est (latest); words ending in y change to i (earlier, earliest).
• Special adverbs (well, badly): comparative better, worse; superlative best, worst.

C. Complete each sentence with the correct form of the adverb

Clue: the word than always signals the comparative; the phrase of all signals the superlative.

ADVERBIAL PHRASES

An adverbial phrase is a group of words that acts together as an adverb, answering the same questions as an adverb: how / how much, when, or where.

D. Underline the adverbial phrase and write the question it answers

ADVERB CLAUSES

An adverb clause has a verb and usually a subject, and is joined to the rest of the sentence by a subordinating conjunction such as because, when, if, although, before, after. Because it contains a subordinating conjunction it is a dependent clause — it cannot stand alone. It tells where, when, why, how or how much something is happening.
Example: Although it was late, Jameela continued to read her book. — the adverb clause is although it was late; the subordinating conjunction is although.

E. Underline the adverb clause in each sentence

(Items 4 and 6 are identical — a printing repetition in the textbook.)

GLOSSARY (p.68 — as given in the book)

LIKELY EXAM QUESTIONS

1. What were the two bargains made by Hazrat Usman (R.A)?
2. Why could the people of Madina not get water from Bair-e-Roma?
3. Why did the Jew agree to Hazrat Usman's (R.A) offer, and how did he learn a bitter lesson?
4. Why did Hazrat Usman (R.A) keep on rejecting the offers of Hazrat Umar (R.A)?
5. Why did Hazrat Umar (R.A) weep?
6. What is the role of generosity in Islamic history?
7. "Service to humanity is liked by Allah." Elaborate.
8. Write an essay on "Generosity" with the help of a mind map.
9. Write the summary of the lesson "The Two Bargains".
10. Define an adverb, an adverbial phrase and an adverb clause with examples. Give the rules for the position of adverbs.