The beggar who lived poor but died rich

A Saudi man who had lived most of his life as a beggar died as a rich man. Besides his body, police found more than $80,000 buried under his floor.

 

Known only as “Saleh the beggar”, the man, in his 50s, was found dead by neighbours in his small shabby house in the Central Saudi town of Aniza, the Saudi newspaper Al Jazirah reported on Saturday.

 

“Saleh’s body was taken to the morgue but his brother did not bother come and see him...when the news spread that more than SR300,000 ($83,500) was found under his floor, his brother came to the funeral with his children.”

 

The paper said Saleh was a calm person who had been renounced by relatives on the ground he was insane.

 

“They pushed him to begging,” it said. “But Saleh was a quiet and stable person… his neighbours confirmed that he had never done anything wrong…he used to wear the same winter clothes even in the middle of summer.”