A pious man in the Bani Israeel was told that the people of a nearby village worshipped a tree. He took his axe to go chop the tree. On the way he met Satan in the form of an old man who told him to leave the tree and carry on his worship.
A fight took place between the two and the man beat the devil. The devil proposed a bargain: He told the man that he would give him three gold coins daily with which he could do more virtuous acts like helping the poor, etc. Cutting the tree was only one good act. The man agreed.
For two days he got the gold coins. On the third there was none and he took his axe to go cut the tree. The devil met him, a fight ensued and the devil won. The man asked how was it that he lost this time?
The devil answered that on the first occasion the man had gone to cut the tree solely for the Pleasure of Allah Ta’ala and Allah had Helped him. Now his anger was partly due to the gold coins and therefore he lost.
The more sincerely one does all acts for the Pleasure of Allah Ta’ala, the more one will receive the Help of Allah. A few cents given in charity solely for Allah is far better than thousands of rands given with other motives.
The Tree
