until the ʿaṣr (afternoon) prayer; then he would teach the people the Qur’an until maghrib (sunset), after which he would perform the prayer between maghrib and ʿishāʾ. He would then return home, eat a single loaf of bread, take a brief nap, rise for his night devotions, take his pre-dawn meal of another loaf, and set out (1).

Bīlāl ibn Saʿd said: ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd Qays was denounced to Ziyād. They told him, “Here is a man to whom it was said, ‘Abraham—peace be upon him—is no better than you,’ and he remained silent; moreover, he has abandoned women.”

Ziyād wrote about him to ʿUthmān, who replied, “Banish him to Syria on the back of a pack-saddle (2).”

When the letter arrived, Ziyād summoned ʿĀmir and said, “It was said to you, ‘Abraham is no better than you,’ and you kept quiet?!”

He answered, “By Allah, my silence was only out of amazement, and I would love to be the dust upon his feet.”

Ziyād asked, “And you have given up women?”

He replied, “By Allah, I left them only because I know that children would follow and the world would become entangled (3) with me, so I preferred solitude.”

Accordingly, Ziyād expelled him to Syria on a pack-saddle. Muʿāwiyah lodged him with him in the Green Palace (4), sent a maid-servant to him, and instructed her to keep him informed of ʿĀmir’s condition.

ʿĀmir would leave before dawn and would not be seen again until after the late-night prayer. Muʿāwiyah would send him food, but he would not touch it; instead, he brought with him some crusts of bread, soaked them, and ate. Then he would stand in prayer until he heard the call to prayer, whereupon he would go out.

Muʿāwiyah wrote to ʿUthmān describing his state. ʿUthmān replied, “Make him the first to enter and the last to leave, and allot ten slaves and ten mounts to him.”

When Muʿāwiyah summoned him and informed him, ʿĀmir said, “I have a devil who already has the upper hand over me—how, then, could I burden myself with ten more?”

He owned a single mule (5).