up his shin. Al-Walīd sent for him; he was carried to the caliph, who summoned the physicians. They said, “The only cure is amputation,” so the leg was cut off, and not the slightest grimace crossed his face. (1)

ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Ghaffār narrated; Hishām said:
“My father was struck in his leg by the devouring disease, and it was suggested to him, ‘Shall we call a physician for you?’ He replied, ‘If you wish.’ They said, ‘We will give you a drink that will make you lose consciousness.’ He answered, ‘Go on with what you have to do; I never thought a human being would drink something that removes his reason so that he is unaware of himself.’ (2)

“The saw was then set on his left knee, and we heard not a sound from him. When it had been severed he kept repeating, ‘If You have taken, You have left much; and if You have tested, You have also granted well-being.’ That night he did not omit his allotted portion of the Quran. (3)”

Yaʿqūb al-Dawraqī (4) reported: ʿĀmir ibn Ṣāliḥ, from Hishām ibn ʿUrwah:

“My father set out to visit al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik. When he reached Wādī al-Qurā he felt something in his leg; an ulcer appeared and the pain crept upward. He reached al-Walīd while being carried in a litter. Al-Walīd said, ‘Abū ʿAbd Allāh, have it cut off.’ He replied, ‘Go ahead.’ So the caliph summoned a physician and said, ‘Drink the al-murqid (the anesthetic).’ (5) He refused, whereupon the physician cut the leg off at mid-shin, and all he said was, ‘Ḥiss, ḥiss.’ (6) Al-Walīd remarked, ‘I have never seen an old man more patient than this.’

“During that same journey ʿUrwah also lost his son Muḥammad: a mule in the stable trampled him, yet not a single word of complaint was heard from him. When they reached Wādī al-Qurā he recited, ‘Indeed, we have encountered fatigue on this journey of ours’ (18:63), and he prayed, ‘O Allah, I had seven sons, and You have taken one and left me six; and I had limbs…’