and those gatherers who heap up wealth, ever increasing it through crime and embezzlement;
they have cast away their intellects for the sake of this world, dropping them on the very track where torrents sweep all away;
they busy themselves with the furthest twigs of minor issues, while neglecting the knowledge of the roots;
they chase after piles of worthless debris, yet forsake the footsteps of the Messenger;
and they have witnessed the spectres of time’s calamities—one ghoul after another.
In the History of Ibn Jarīr it is related with a chain of transmission that al-Rashīd said: “By Allah, I do not know what command to give regarding this al-ʿUmari. I am loath to take action against him, although he does have a precedent (1), and I would like to know what opinion he holds of us.”
ʿUmar ibn Bazīʿ and al-Faḍl ibn al-Rabīʿ replied, “We shall attend to him.”
They set out from al-ʿArj to his place in the wilderness, to the small mosque he had there. They dismounted and approached him dressed in royal apparel and full retinue. Sitting with him, they said:
“We are envoys of those who remain behind us in the East. They say to you: Fear Allah; if you wish, then rise and come.”
He asked, “Alas for you two! Against whom, and for whose sake?”
They answered, “Against you.”
He said, “By Allah, I would not wish to meet Allah with even a lancet-point of a Muslim’s blood upon me, even if all that the sun rises over were mine.”
When they lost hope of persuading him, they said, “We have with us twenty thousand men; you may use them for support.”
He replied, “I have no need of them.”
They said, “Then give them to whomever you see fit.”
He said, “You two give them away.”
When they finally despaired of him, they left, joined al-Rashīd, and informed him of what had transpired.
Al-Rashīd said, “I do not care what he does after this.”
Later, while al-ʿUmari was performing saʿy (the brisk walk between Ṣafā and Marwah), al-Rashīd too was making saʿy on his mount. Al-ʿUmari stepped before him and seized the animal’s bridle. The guards moved against him, but al-Rashīd restrained them and spoke with him; I saw al-Rashīd’s tears streaming down (2).
Yahya ibn Ayyūb, the devotee, said: One of our companions related to me that Mālik once wrote