Hishām related—from Ibn Sīrīn—who said: “We divided their one-eighth share; it came to three hundred and twenty thousand.” (1)
A similar narration was transmitted by Layth ibn Abī Muslim from Mujāhid.
The author of History of Damascus devoted four separate fascicles to the life of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān.
When he first emigrated to Medina he was destitute, owning nothing at all. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ joined him in brotherhood with Saʿd ibn al-Rabīʿ, one of the twelve leaders at the Second Pledge of ʿAqabah. Saʿd offered to share half of his wealth with him and even to divorce for him the finer of his two wives.
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān replied, “May Allah bless your family and your wealth, but show me the marketplace.” He went there, bought and sold, turned a profit, and before long had some silver coins of his own. He then married a woman, giving her a bridal dower of gold the weight of a date-stone.
When the Prophet ﷺ noticed a trace of saffron on him he said, “Give a wedding feast, even if it is with only one sheep.”
His commercial ventures thereafter flourished to the extraordinary level for which he became famous. (2)
(1) In the printed edition the word has been mis-read as “minhun”; the correct reading is thumn (one-eighth), i.e. the wives’ statutory share of the inheritance.
(2) Al-Bukhari reports the full incident under no. 2048 (Book of Sales, chapter on the verse “When the prayer is finished…”) and no. 3780 (Merits of the Ansar, chapter on the Prophet’s brotherhood between the Muhajirun and the Ansar), through the chain: Abd al-Aziz b. Abd Allah – Ibrahim b. Saad – his father – his grandfather. Abd al-Rahman b. Awf related: “When we reached Medina, the Messenger of Allah created a bond of brotherhood between me and Saad b. al-Rabi. Saad said, ‘I am one of the wealthiest of the Ansar; I will give you half of my property. Look at my two wives; choose whichever you wish—I shall divorce her and when her waiting-period ends you may marry her.’ I replied, ‘I have no need of that. Is there a marketplace for trade?’ He said, ‘The market of Qaynuqa.’ I went there the next morning and came back with some dried curd and butter, and I kept frequenting the market until traces of yellow perfume appeared on me. The Prophet asked, ‘Have you married?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ ‘Whom?’ ‘A woman from the Ansar.’ ‘What bride-gift did you give?’ ‘The weight of a date-stone in gold—or a date-stone of gold.’ He said, ‘Hold a wedding feast, even if only with a sheep.’ ”
Further versions appear in Bukhari nos. 3781, 2049, 2292, 3937, 5072, 5148, 5153, 5155, 5167, 6072 and 6386; Ibn Majah no. 1907 (Book of Marriage, abridged); al-Darimi 2/104 (Foods) and 2/143 (Marriage); and Ibn Saad 3/1/88-89.