would be dearer to me than to donate my own weight in gold (1).

Kaʿb died in Ḥimṣ while setting out on campaign, late in the caliphate of ʿUthmān—may Allah be pleased with him. He was indeed one of the great repositories of knowledge.

Among those who narrated from him was Abū al-Rabāb Muṭarrif ibn Mālik al-Qushayrī, one of the participants in the conquest of Tustar. Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn related from Abū al-Rabāb, who said:

“We entered upon Abū al-Dardāʾ, may Allah be pleased with him, to visit him during an illness. He was then the governor, and I was one of five men charged with collecting the revenues of Sūs. A man came to me with a book and said, ‘Sell it to me, for it is the Book of Allah. I can recite it well, whereas you cannot.’ We removed its covers, and he bought it for two dirhams.

“Some time later we set out for Syria. An elderly man accompanied us, riding a donkey with a Qurʾanic codex before him; he read from it and wept. I remarked, ‘How much this codex resembles the one whose story was such-and-such.’ He replied, ‘It is that very codex.’

“I asked, ‘Where are you heading?’ He said, ‘Kaʿb al-Aḥbār sent for me last year, so I went to him. He has sent for me again, and now I am on my way to him.’ I said, ‘Then I am coming with you.’

“We travelled until we reached Syria and sat with Kaʿb. Then twenty Jews arrived, among them a very old man who held his eyebrows up with a strip of silk. They said, ‘Make room, make room.’ So space was made for them, and we craned our necks forward while they spoke.

“Kaʿb said, ‘O Nuʿaym, will you answer these people, or shall I?’ He replied, ‘Leave it to me until I explain to them what they have said. These men first praised the people of our religion, then they twisted their tongues and claimed that we had sold the Hereafter for this world. Come, let us make a pact with you: if you bring guidance superior to what we possess, we shall follow you; but if we bring guidance superior to yours, then follow us.’ So they pledged one another.

“Kaʿb said, ‘Bring me that codex.’ It was brought, and he asked, ‘Are you willing for this to be the arbiter between us?’ They said, ‘Yes; no one can produce a copy like it.’”