The other day my Nanaba told me this beautiful story about the value and beauty of a good neighbor. Once upon a time there was a landlord who owned a house. And it was time he had decided he wanted to sell the house. So he put it up, selected a price, and waited for people to come. Eventually, a young family came to see the house. They looked around, and were satisfied with the contents of the house but not nearly impressed for the price the landlord was listing. So the husband of the new family asked the landlord, “With all due respect sir, you have a beautiful house, but I do not feel as though it is necessarily worth as much as you have listed the price for. Do you not think this is a rather heavy price for this level of a home?”

The landlord looked at the man and smiled. His lips pursed but in a manner that meant he was holding back a chuckle of amusement and not one of anger. He looked at the man and said, “indeed you are right, this house alone by itself is not really worth the amount I have listed, but it is not just the structure of the house I am selling as much as it is the place.”

The young man’s eyebrows burrowed in confusion, I am not sure I understand what you mean sir.

The landlord walked the young man and his family out of the house and onto the front porch. Then he turned at gestured his hand to the right as if about to present something. His hand gestured towards another man mowing the lawn next door. The landlord turned back to the young couple and said, it is because of this man that I have set the price to such a high value. Whomever moves into this house can ensure that they will be treated with the utmost care and compassion by this neighbor right here.

He treats me so well that I almost don’t want to sell the house.

The young couple looked at the man, and then at his neighbor, they thanked the landlord and went on their way.

A few days later, it came to the notice of the neighbor, that his friend/landlord was selling his house at such a high price all because of him. So he went to the landlord to visit him. He rang his doorbell as he usually did around Asr time to check in on the landlord and his family.

The landlord welcomed him inside and they sat down. His neighbor looked at him with a puzzled looked etched on his face. He turned to him and asked him, oh dear friend of mine, why is it that you are even selling your house in the first place. The man turned to him and said, to be honest, it is because I am going through financial problems and I cannot afford to pay for this house, and so I have decided to sell it. If not for this reason, I would not have ever given up this house that is next to yours for all the money in the world.

The neighbor smiled. He took the landlords hand in his, looked him straight in the eye and said with the utmost humility and concern in his face, my dear friend, let me cover your financial problems at this time so that I can continue to see you every day. The two men smiled at each other as the landlord agreed.

I totally dramatized and added details to my Nana’s shorter version of the story but the basic through-line remains true, the importance of neighbors. Would you ever sell your house for such a large amount simply because of your neighbor? Are you that neighbor that someone else would do that because of you? I love this story because it is a very plain, simple, and direct lesson learned, to treat your neighbors with the utmost care, dignity, respect, humility, etc. Serve as though they are your own family. Be consistent with checking in on them, and at a consistent time to (so as not to embarrass, or catch them at a bad time). Don’t hesitate to give whatever you have. And honestly, don’t stop until you feel you have fulfilled a neighbors wants so much that he feels like this towards you. Like he feels the same way the landlord felt to his neighbor.