He said: When Allah granted the Muslims the spoils taken from Rustam and the revenues from Syria and Iraq were brought to ʿUmar, he assembled the Muslims and asked, “What is permissible for a governor to take from this wealth?” They replied, “For his personal needs: his stipend and the sustenance of his household—neither scant nor excessive—their clothing and his, two mounts for his engagements in jihad and for his errands, the cost of his journey for Hajj and ʿUmrah. As for the public distribution, he should disburse equitably, giving those who have borne hardship in proportion to their hardship, dealing with the Muslims’ affairs and tending to them.” Among the assembly ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) remained silent. ʿUmar therefore asked, “What do you say, Abū al-Ḥasan?” He answered, “Whatever sets you and your family right, in accordance with what is recognised as good.”

It is also related that ʿUmar lived on the same allowance that Abū Bakr had taken until his need became pressing; when the people wished to increase it, he refused.

His governors in that year, according to Ibn Jarīr—though we have already recorded ʿAttāb’s death—were: ʿAttāb ibn Usayd; Yaʿlā ibn Munyah over al-Ṭāʾif; Saʿd over Kūfah, with Abū Qurrah as its judge; al-Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah over Basra; ʿUthmān ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ over al-Yamāmah and Bahrain; Hudhayfah ibn Miḥṣan over ʿUmān; and Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrāḥ over the Syrian frontier posts.

Those who died that year:
• Saʿd ibn ʿUbayd ibn al-Nuʿmān, Abū Zayd al-Anṣārī al-Awsī—one of the reciters who had memorised the Quran during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—fell as a martyr.