THE RELATIVITY OF BEING ‘WEALTHY’

We reflected on the relativity of being wealthy and of being content. We again began with the story of a wealthy Lagos-based tycoon (now late) who was said to have once confided to his eldest son that all the trips he used to make to Australia were just so that he could get some sleep. […]

We reflected on the relativity of being wealthy and of being content. We again began with the story of a wealthy Lagos-based tycoon (now late) who was said to have once confided to his eldest son that all the trips he used to make to Australia were just so that he could get some sleep. “I had no business in Australia,” he was said to have told the son. “When I travel via London to Singapore and then on to Sydney, I was only using the opportunity of such long haul flights to lie flat on the First Class seat/bed and just sleep, and sleep, and sleep. I never get to get such sound sleep otherwise.”

We also reminisced on the similar story of another billionaire, this time Kano-based, and also now late. He was said to have had a visitor one day; a childhood but rather poor friend. Before the tycoon could come down from upstairs to meet his visitor, the poor peasant friend had dozed off on the settee he had been cozily seated, and began to snore right away. Settee, air conditioning, wealth, contentment, peace, tomato. Yes?

No! When the wealthy one descended, he was said to have told his visitor that he so envied him: he told him there was no way he could sleep without drugs, even then it had to be flat out, on one side, and even then for only a couple of hours. As a proprietor of some transport equipment, he could never naturally close an eye until all such equipment had been reported safe.

Then we counted all the possible advantages the non-tomato friend could have because he was not ‘wealthy’, relatively-speaking. He himself went on to list that he had no idea what high blood pressure is (tomato suffers from it); he slept the moment he hit ground (tomato sometimes used valium); he spent most of his non-working spare time with his children (tomato perhaps one-tenth of his time, if ever); he has never been armed robbed (tomato more than twice); 419ners never considered him prey (they have tried on tomato several times); no parasite (dan maula) would ever visit him and sponge (an everyday matter for tomato).

Then we discussed the world’s richest person, Bill Gates. Forbes (www.forbes.com) never fails to remind us that Bill was a Harvard drop out (though he warned that dropping out of school may not make you rich).

As a good digression, we discussed how Bill, as a very down-to-earth person, once gave a speech at a High School about the rules young people must learn, and how present-day teaching has created a generation of young people with no concept of reality, and has set them up for failure in the real world. Some of Bills Rules are:

•  Life is not fair – get used to it!

•  If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

•  If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

•  Life is not divided into semesters.

•  Television is NOT real life.

Then we went on to discuss another notable person on the Top Ten list of the world’s wealthiest people, the Saudi Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal Al Saud. My visiting friends had feasted on the Sallah chicken presented by my wife. They ate all the chicken, and left all the tuwo (no, I am not reporting them). Meat, we all know, is highly correlated to wealth, having-it, tomato-face. But Prince Al Waleed is a vegetarian!

We then went on to discuss the Islamic concept of wealth. The site www.islamic-world.net states that “Wealth in Arabic is known as ‘al-ghina’, which means ‘self sufficiency’. ‘Wealthy’, Al Ghaniy, is one of attributes of God. In Islam wealth consists of two elements: physical and spiritual. The first dimension depicts the possession of materials which is known as ‘Maal’ (‘amwaal’ in its plural form), ‘property, assets, etc’. The latter indicates spiritual dimension such as knowledge and virtue that reside in the soul.

“On this, the Prophet, upon whom be peace, used to say: ‘Anyone who wants this worldly life, he should have knowledge, and anyone who wants the life of the hereafter, he should have knowledge, and anyone who wants both this life and the next life in the hereafter, he should also have knowledge’. The Fourth Caliph, Imam Ali bin Abi Talib, in comparing the two dimensions of wealth, once remarked: ‘Knowledge will take care of you, while you will have to take care of your wealth and property’.”

In the Western concept, Wikipedia.com states that “Wealth comes from the old English word ‘weal’, which means ‘well-being’ or ‘welfare’. The term has come to mean an abundance of items of economic value, or the state of controlling or possessing such items, and encompasses money, real estate and personal property. The opposite of wealth is destitution. The opposite of richness is poverty.”

And it must be added here that our Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, used to beseech Allah the Exalted to save him from poverty every day and every night.

Still on the Western concept, there are those who believe one can be wealthy if one put their minds to it. This is conceptualized in the Law of Attraction which, according to Wikipedia, states that “people experience physical and mental manifestations that correspond to their predominant thoughts, feelings, words and actions; and that people have direct control over reality and their lives through thought alone. A person’s thoughts (conscious and unconscious), emotions, beliefs and actions are said to attract corresponding positive and negative experiences.”

The Irish Poet, Novelist, Dramatist and Critic Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) once said, “Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.” Margaret Bonnano added, “Being rich is having money; being wealthy is having time.” Yet another, A. J. Reb Materi said, “So many people spend their health gaining wealth, and then have to spend their wealth to regain their health.”

Wealth is about being able to sleep tonight, and tomorrow night.  Let us appreciate every single thing we have! On Sallah Day, my two visiting friends left me wealthier, spiritually if not materially.