They both sprang up, each one seizing the other, until the neighbours gathered round. News reached Mālik ibn Anas and the other elders, so they came to support Rabīʿah. Rabīʿah kept saying, “By Allah, I will not let you go until we are before the authorities!” Farrūkh said the same, adding, “And you have been living with my wife!”
The uproar grew, but when the people saw Mālik everyone fell silent. Mālik said, “Old man, there is ample room for you somewhere other than this house.” The elder replied, “But this is my house; I am Farrūkh, the client of such-and-such a clan.”
His wife heard his voice, came out and said, “This is my husband, and this is the son you left me carrying.” The two of them embraced and wept.
Farrūkh entered the house and asked, “Is this my son?” She answered, “Yes.” He said, “Then bring out the money you have; I have brought four thousand dinars with me.” She replied, “I have buried the money and will bring it out after a few days.”
Rabīʿah then went to the mosque and sat in his teaching circle. Mālik ibn Anas, al-Ḥasan ibn Zayd, Ibn Abī ʿAlī al-Lahbī, al-Musāḥiqī, and the notables of Medina came to him, and the people thronged around.
His mother said to Farrūkh, “Go out and pray in the Prophet’s Mosque ﷺ.” He went out, prayed, and noticed a large circle of students. He approached and stood over them; they made a little room for him, while Rabīʿah lowered his head, giving the impression that he had not seen him, and he was wearing a ṭawīlah (long cloak). Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān [Farrūkh] was unsure who he was and asked, “Who is this man?” They replied, “This is Rabīʿah ibn Abī ʿAbd al-Raḥmān.” He exclaimed, “Allah has indeed exalted my son!”
He returned home and said to his wife, “I have seen your son in a state the like of which I have never observed among the people of knowledge and jurisprudence.” She said, “Which would you prefer: thirty thousand dinars, or the esteem he now enjoys?” He said, “By Allah, nothing but this esteem!” She said, “Then I have spent all the money on him.” He replied, “By Allah, you have not wasted it.”
I say: Had the report been sound, a single thousand dinars would have sufficed him for those twenty-seven years; rather