The Man Who Gave Me Water

☀️ A Long Day, a Dry Mouth

It was the peak of summer. The sun was merciless, and the air felt like fire. I had just missed my bus, and the next one wouldn’t arrive for another hour. I had no water bottle with me, and the nearby shops were closed for Friday prayer.

I sat down on a broken bench at the bus stop, my mouth dry, my head pounding, and my patience thinning. Everyone who passed by seemed too busy, too lost in their own heatwave to notice anyone else. My throat felt like it had sand in it, and I silently wished for even a single sip of cold water.

That’s when I saw him.


🧓 The Man in the White Kurta

He was old — perhaps in his late sixties. His white kurta was simple and slightly stained with sweat. He walked slowly, his slippers making soft sounds on the pavement. What caught my attention was not his appearance — but the small plastic bag he was carrying, inside which I could see two bottles of water.

He stopped near the bus stop but didn’t sit. Instead, he looked around at everyone there — and then he looked at me. He must have noticed how miserable I looked because he smiled gently and walked toward me.

He didn’t ask me anything.
He just reached into his bag, took out one bottle, and handed it to me.

“Beta, yeh lo. Aapko zarurat lag rahi hai.”
(Son, take this. You look like you need it.)

I blinked, surprised. “Uncle, are you sure? You only have two.”

He smiled again, “Ek mere liye, ek kisi zarurat mand ke liye. Lagta hai woh tum ho.”



💧 More Than Just Water

I took the bottle and drank slowly, feeling the cool water travel down my dry throat. It felt like a gift from the heavens.

But more than that, his kindness moved me in a way I hadn’t expected. He didn’t know me. I wasn’t his relative. He wasn’t expecting anything in return. He just… gave.

I asked, “Why do you carry extra water?”

He said something I’ll never forget:

> “Zarurat kis waqt kisay ho, yeh sirf Allah jaanta hai. Agar us waqt kuch de sako, to wo ne‘mat ban jaata hai.”
(Only Allah knows who will need what and when. If you can give at that moment, it becomes a blessing.)




🕋 A Sunnah in Disguise

Later that evening, I couldn’t stop thinking about that man. His face, his soft voice, and that small act of giving — it all lingered in my heart.

I recalled the Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ:

> "Giving water is the best form of charity."
(Musnad Ahmad)



And I realized… this man was living that Sunnah without even preaching it. No mic. No speech. Just a bottle of water.
And yet, he taught me something no khutbah ever had.


🧠 A Shift in Perspective

Since that day, I started carrying an extra bottle of water in my backpack. Not for myself, but for “someone who might need it.”

A few weeks later, I handed it to a delivery man who was exhausted and fasting. The look on his face mirrored my own from that hot summer day. That’s when I truly understood the ripple effect of kindness.

That old man at the bus stop?
He didn’t just give me water.
He gave me an example to live by.



🌱 Moral of the Story

Sometimes, a small act done with sincerity carries more weight than a hundred words.
We don’t always need to donate big or speak loud — sometimes, a simple gesture is enough to earn Allah’s pleasure.

> 💧 Carry an extra bottle.
💧 Share it.
💧 Make someone’s thirst your opportunity for reward.



You never know when your water becomes someone’s answered prayer — and your sadaqah becomes your key to Jannah.