He replied, “Woe to you, Ḥumayd! It seems to me you have slipped away. Alas for you, Ḥumayd—your father was a righteous man, whereas you are a wicked one.”

Ḥumayd answered, “May Allah set you aright. Which of us truly resembles his father? Your own father was a bad man, while you are a righteous man.”

ʿUmar said, “These young men claim that their father has died and left some money with you.”

He responded, “They have spoken the truth.”

He then produced the property, still sealed with their father’s seal, and said, “I have been supporting them from my own wealth, and here is their money.”

ʿUmar remarked, “No one has a better right to keep this for them than you.”

Ḥumayd retorted, “Shall it come back to me after it has already left my hands?!” (1)

Al-ʿAṭṭāf ibn Khālid narrated: Zayd ibn Aslam told us that Anas said, “I have not prayed behind any imam after the Messenger of Allah ﷺ whose prayer more closely resembled the Prophet’s than this imam of yours—meaning ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz.”

Zayd added, “ʿUmar would give the bowing and the prostration their full due, yet he would lighten the standing and the sitting.” (2)

Suhayl ibn Abī Ṣāliḥ said: “I was with my father on the morning of ʿArafah. We paused to observe ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz, who was leading the pilgrimage. I said, ‘Father, by Allah, I believe Allah loves ʿUmar.’

“He asked, ‘Why?’

“I replied, ‘Because of the affection I see Allah has placed for him in people’s hearts. And you yourself heard Abū Hurayrah relate that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “When Allah loves a servant, He calls Gabriel: Allah has loved so-and-so, so love him,”’ and the rest of the hadith.” (3)