Ali ibn Abi Ḥamalah related: “When al-Walid ibn Hisham mentioned al-Qasim ibn Mukhaymirah to ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz, the Caliph sent for him. When al-Qasim entered, ʿUmar said, ‘State your need.’

Al-Qasim replied, ‘O Commander of the Believers, you know what is said about asking (for favors).’

ʿUmar said, ‘That does not apply to me; I am only a distributor. State your need.’

He said, ‘Add me to the public stipend.’

ʿUmar answered, ‘We have enrolled you at the level of fifty; now ask for something else.’

He said, ‘Settle my debt.’

He replied, ‘We have settled it; ask for something else.’

He said, ‘Provide me with a riding animal.’

He said, ‘We have provided you with one; ask again.’

He said, ‘Include my daughters among those who receive family support.’

He answered, ‘We have done that; state another need.’

He said, ‘What remains?’

ʿUmar said, ‘We have ordered a maidservant for you; take her from your brother al-Walid ibn Hisham.’

Said ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz transmitted from al-Qasim ibn Mukhaymirah that he said, ‘Never have two different dishes been placed together on my table, and never have I shut my door while harboring anxiety behind it.’

Al-Awzaʿi said: Al-Qasim ibn Mukhaymirah came to ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz, who assigned him an allowance and ordered a servant for him. Al-Qasim then said, ‘Praise be to Allah who has spared me the need for trade.’

He had a partner; whenever he made a profit he would divide it with that partner, then remain in his house, not going out again until he had spent it.

ʿUmar ibn Abi Zāʾidah said: Whenever counterfeit coins reached al-Qasim ibn Mukhaymirah, he would break them and would never sell them.

Al-Awzaʿi also narrated—through Musa ibn Sulayman ibn Musa—from al-Qasim ibn Mukhaymirah, who said: ‘Whoever acquires wealth through sin, and then uses it to maintain family ties, or gives it in charity, or spends it in the way of Allah, all of it will nevertheless be gathered together for him in the Fire of Hell.’

Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Shuʿaythi said: Al-Qasim ibn Mukhaymirah used to pray for death, but when death came to him he said to the mother of his child, ‘I used to pray for death, yet when it descended upon me I came to dislike it.’

I (the author) say: This is generally what happens to most people who wish for death; and the Prophet ﷺ forbade any of us to long for death because of a hardship that has befallen him, saying: ‘Let him say: O Allah, give me life if …’