if a person is  frugal and restricts  his  needs to the  essential, he will find enough sustenance to live on in unexpected ways. The verse guarantees it. Yes, there are two sorts of sustenance:4

One is true sustenance, which is enough to subsist on. As the verse decrees, this is  guaranteed by the Sustainer. So long as man’s inclination towards evil does not interfere, he will find this essential sustenance under any circumstances. He will be compelled to sacrifice neither his religion, nor his honour, nor his self-respect.

The  second  sort  is  metaphorical  sustenance,  due  to  which  and  its  abuse, inessential needs become like essential ones, and owing to the calamity of custom and tradition, people become addicted to them and cannot give them up. Such sustenance is not guaranteed  by the Sustainer, so the obtaining of it is extremely expensive – especially at the present  time. These unfruitful, inauspicious goods are obtained by first of all sacrificing one’s  self-respect and accepting degradation, and sometimes stooping to what is in effect begging,  kissing the feet of the vile, and sometimes sacrificing the sacred things of religion, which are the light of eternal life.

Also, at this time of poverty and hardship, the distress people with consciences feel at  the anguish of the  hungry and  needy sours  any pleasure  to  be had  from unlawfully acquired money. As far as doubtful goods are concerned, one has to make do with them to the minimum degree necessary during strange times such as these. For  according  to  the  rule,  “Necessity  is  determined  according  to  its  extent,”  if compelled, illicit goods may be taken  to the minimum degree necessary, not more. Someone in dire need may eat prohibited meat, but he may not eat his fill. He may eat enough only to remain alive. Also, one could not fully enjoy more than this in the presence of a hundred people who are hungry.

The  following  is  a  story showing  that  frugality  is  the  cause  of  dignity  and distinction:

One time, Khatim Tay, who was world-famous for his generosity, was giving a large banquet. Having given his guests a superfluity of presents, he went out to walk in the desert. There he saw a poor old man carrying a load of thorny bushes and plants on his back. The thorns were piercing his skin and making him bleed. Khatim said to him: “Khatim Tay is giving a large banquet and giving away gifts. Go there and you will be given five hundred  kurush in return for   your load worth five kurush.” The frugal old man replied: “I raise and carry this thorny load with my self-respect; I am not going to become obliged to Khatim Tay.” Later, they asked Khatim Tay:

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4   See, al-Jurjani, Tarikh Jurjan, 366; al-Ghazali, al-Maqsad al-Asna, 85-6.