The Story Of A Rich Man

The story of Qaroon  a rich  man is told  in Chapter 28( Surah Al Qasas) of Holy Quran from verse 78 to 82.

•    Qaroon was Moses 's extremely rich cousin . The immensity of his wealth can be gauged from the fact that the keys of his treasury alone were too heavy for strong men to carry on their heads or shoulders. Each key was for  a separate  storeroom . When he rode anywhere, keys would be carried on sixty mules

•   Abundance of wealth made him arrogant and conceited. He was a close associate of Firoh. Firoh was the powerful ruler of Egypt. He used to exert all kinds of hardships and cruelty on Qaroon 's people(Israelites) but Qaroon would not care. He did not change even after drowning of Firoh and his army. He continued to create mischief in the land as he was jealous of Prophet Moses (may peace be upon him) .He  did not give heed to Prophet Moses appeal to pay Zakat (charity given to the needy)Wise people advised Qaroon to be thankful to Allah but he would not listen.

•   One day Qaaroon went to his people , wearing his fine clothes, accompanied by fine horses, servants . showing off his wealth. He bribed a woman to blame publicly Prophet Moses of misconduct . Prophet Moses asked woman to speak truth. Gripped by intense fear, she admitted that she had been ordered to make this allegation against Nabi Moosa [as] by Qaaroon, and that she was sorry and begged the forgiveness of ALLAH.

•  There was a huge tremor, followed by an earthquake and a rupture in the earth, and Qaaroon and all his possessions were swallowed into the earth, and in the presence of the people everything sunk before their very eyes It has been said in some  narrations that he will remain sinking  down into it until the Day of Resurrection

In the end, Qaroon's arrogance brought him nothing but harm. He brought great torment upon himself by being ungrateful to Allah, and arrogantly believing that all his possessions were earned of his own accord. Allah likes to see humility in people.

Quran says in 28:83

That home of the Hereafter We assign to those who do not desire exaltedness upon the earth or corruption. And the [best] outcome is for the righteous.