that al-Miswar ibn Makhramah informed him that he had gone as a delegate to Muʿāwiyah, who satisfied his request (1). When the two of them were alone, Muʿāwiyah said, “Miswar, what has become of your attacks on the leaders?”

Miswar replied, “Let us leave that aside and speak kindly.”

Muʿāwiyah said, “No, by Allah, you must speak to me yourself about the very things for which you blame me.”

Miswar continued, “I left nothing that I used to censure him for without laying it before him.”

Muʿāwiyah responded, “I do not claim to be free of sin. Yet, Miswar, will you not count for us the good we carry out for the public welfare—since one good deed is rewarded tenfold—or do you list only the sins and ignore the kindnesses?”

He answered, “Only the sins are mentioned.”

Muʿāwiyah said, “We acknowledge before Allah every sin we have committed. Tell me, Miswar, do you not have personal sins you fear will destroy you if they are not forgiven?”

He replied, “Indeed, I do.”

Muʿāwiyah said, “Then what makes you think that your hope of forgiveness with Allah is more justified than mine? By Allah, the share of reform I undertake is no less than the share you undertake. But, by Allah, whenever I am offered a choice between two courses—one for Allah and one for someone else—I choose Allah over all others. I am upon a religion in which deeds are accepted, good acts are rewarded, and sins are requited—unless Allah pardons them.”

He (Miswar) said, “Thus he defeated me in argument.”

ʿUrwah added, “After that I never heard al-Miswar mention Muʿāwiyah without invoking blessings upon him.” (2)

ʿAmr ibn Wāqid narrated to us, from Yūnus ibn Maysarah, who said: I heard Muʿāwiyah say from the pulpit of Damascus, “Give in charity, and let none of you say, ‘I have little,’ for the charity of one with little is better than the charity of the wealthy.” (3)

Al-Shāfiʿī reported to us—ʿAbd al-Majīd narrated from Ibn Jurayj; ʿUtbah ibn Muḥammad told me, and Kurayb, the client of Ibn ʿAbbās, informed me—that he saw Muʿāwiyah perform the ʿIshāʾ (night) prayer, then pray Witr with a single rakʿah (unit of prayer) and add nothing more. Kurayb conveyed this to Ibn ʿAbbās, who said, “He has done rightly, my son; it is not—”