Amount of blessings for oneself

Through a saying of a simple and illiterate farmer, I can perceive the badness of stinginess, keeping the greater amount of blessings for oneself and not giving it to those who deserve it.

Once I went to a village to preach. After the lecture an old man, on his mien the signs of heavy work and exhausting toil, appeared. He said to me:

Let us suppose that a generous man has given someone a piece of arable land and some seeds to sow. When the season of harvest comes, that generous man comes to the farmer, whom he has given a piece of land, seeds to sow and a source of water. He says to him, “All that you get from these plants is for you. I do not want anything from you save a small portion to be given as a gift to some people whom I shall name.” If that farmer refuses to pay that little portion from the yield which he gets by the favor of that generous man, then it will be the utmost impudence and lowness. That generous man has the right to turn away from that farmer and to be angry with him and his bad behavior and he has the right to punish him.

Then he added, I mean by the “‘generous one,” Allah the Almighty, Who has given us arable earth, flowing rivers, abundant rains, sunlight, the moon, winds and other means by which we can sow whatever we like. In fact, Allah has given us these plants and fruits freely and asked us for zakat, khums[1] and charity to be given to the poor and the needy. If we do not pay these dues and we become stingy with them, this Generous One has the right to be angry with us and to punish us for our crime and impudence.

The Holy Qur'an says about this matter:

“And let not those deem, who are niggardly in giving away that which Allah has granted them out of His grace, that it is good for them; nay, it is worse for them; they shall have that whereof they were niggardly made to cleave to their necks on the resurrection day; and Allah's is the heritage of the heavens and the earth; and Allah is aware of what you do.” (3:180)