It is related that a man once argued with al-Ahnaf and threatened, “If you say a single word, you will have to hear ten from me!”
Al-Ahnaf replied, “But if you pour out ten words, you will not hear even one from me.”
It is also said that a man asked al-Ahnaf—intending to disparage him—“By what means did you become a chief?”
Al-Ahnaf answered, “By leaving alone what does not concern me, whereas you have meddled in my affairs that are no concern of yours.”
Al-Aṣmaʿī reports, through Muʿtamir ibn Ḥayyān, from Hishām ibn ʿUqbah, the brother of the poet Dhū al-Rumma:
“I was present with al-Ahnaf ibn Qays when he came to a tribe over a case of blood-money. He spoke about it and said, ‘Name your compensation.’
They replied, ‘We claim two blood-prices.’
He said, ‘That is yours.’
When they had fallen silent, he added, ‘I shall grant you what you have asked, so listen:
Allah has ordained one blood-price; the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled for one blood-price; and the Arabs among themselves have always settled for one blood-price. Today you are the claimants, but I fear that tomorrow you may be the defendants, and then people will accept from you nothing short of the precedent you have set.’
They said, ‘Reduce it to a single blood-price.’ (1)
Al-Ahnaf said: “Three never obtain redress from three: a nobleman from a lowly one, a righteous man from a profligate, and a forbearing man from a fool.”
He also said: “Whoever hastens to tell people what they dislike will have said of him what they do not know.”
He was asked, “What is chivalry (murūʾah)?”
He replied, “Concealing secrets and keeping far from evil.”
He further said: “The complete man is the one whose slips can be counted.”
And he declared: “The summit of good manners is mastery of speech. There is no good in words without deeds; nor in appearance without substance; nor in wealth without generosity; nor in a friend without loyalty; nor in legal knowledge without piety; nor in charity without intention; nor in life itself without health and security.”