The old Labunishta residents generally endeavored to earn their living and feed their families in a lawful and honest way — what one might call earned through hard work. Special attention was given to the earnings being halal (rightful).

At that time, the majority of the population lived with a roughly similar standard of living. There were no large differences among people, and whatever little they had was valued if acquired through work and with a clear conscience.

When parents sent their children away to seek work, and housewives sent their men to earn for the family, one of the main admonitions was:

“Beware of stealing!”

It was not most important how much you earn and bring home. More important was that what you brought be halal — honestly earned money, without other's rights being taken, without fraud or injustice.

Because the elders knew well:

A little with blessings is worth more than much without blessings.

But, as always in life, there were exceptions.

Despite parents’ pleas and the requests of those waiting at home, sometimes someone would become tempted by what they saw around them. They saw someone living lavishly, driving an expensive car, having a richly furnished house and much money, and their desire to reach the same quickly would awaken.

When a person starts looking more at what others have than at how they earned it, it’s easy to forget the boundary between halal and haram.

Thus, some took a different path.

After some time, when they returned to their homeland, they would arrive with expensive cars, lots of money in their pockets, and a desire for everyone to see that they had “succeeded.” They splurged money, boasted of what they had acquired, and sometimes their behavior carried an air of arrogance toward those who continued living modestly.

Such a picture could inspire admiration, especially in the young. Seeing the extravagance, they could easily think that this was the measure of success in life.

But the old Labunishta residents, who had seen everything in life, were not so easily impressed.

They knew that one should not only look at how much a person has but also from where what they have came.

So when a young person spoke admiringly of such wealth, one of the elders would quietly say:

“Son, don’t admire such wealth and extravagance. Aram geldi – aram gitti. Aram came – aram left.”

And life sometimes really confirmed their words.

After a while, news would spread that the “business” had failed. The money was gone, the luxury ended, and the expensive cars that once attracted attention became a thing of the past.

And those who yesterday had been splurging money knew how to return among the same people and ask for help — someone to help them find work and start earning honestly again.

Then the elders did not need many words.

They would simply say:

“ARAM GELDI – ARAM GITTI.” Aram came – aram left.

Lesson for today

Of course, the elders did not mean to say that every rich person acquired their wealth dishonestly, nor that every loss is a consequence of theft.

Their message was much simpler:

Do not look only at how much a person has — look at how they acquired what they have.

Even today, when people easily show what they possess, and it is much harder to see the path that led them to it, this old wisdom has not lost any of its value.

Because it is not most important how much you bring into your home, but what you bring with it — halal or haram, peace or unrest, blessing or its absence.

That is why the elders valued an honestly earned denar and a clean conscience more than wealth of questionable origin.

And they summed it all up in four simple words:

“ARAM GELDI – ARAM GITTI.”

✍️ Jakub Kazimoski

From the series “Wisdom of the old Labunishta people”