With the same chain from al-Fuḍayl: they once bought barley for a single dinar during a period of severe inflation. Umm ʿAlī said to al-Fuḍayl, “I have divided it so that every person receives two flatbreads.” Yet ʿAlī would take only one and give the other away in charity, until he was on the verge of collapse from hunger. (1)

With the same chain it is also reported that ʿAlī used to load provisions onto a number of camels for his father. When part of the food he was carrying was found to be missing, his wage was withheld. Al-Fuḍayl went to the men and said, “Would you treat ʿAlī like this? We once had a ewe in Kūfah that nibbled a little from the fodder of the governor, and from that day on we never again drank its milk.” They replied, “We did not know, Abū ʿAlī, that he is your son.” (2)

Ḥammād ibn al-Ḥasan narrated to us: ʿUmar ibn Bishr al-Makkī related from al-Fuḍayl, who said, “Ibn al-Mubārak once sent us a sheep as a gift, but my son would not drink its milk. I asked him about it and he replied, ‘It had grazed in Iraq.’ ”

Al-Miqdād al-Qaysī informed me; Ibn al-Dabīqī informed us; Abū Bakr al-Anṣārī informed us; Abū Bakr al-Khaṭīb informed us; Abū al-Ḥusayn ibn Bishrān informed us; ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Miṣrī told me; I heard Abū Saʿīd al-Kharrāz say that he heard Ibrāhīm ibn Bashshār say, “The verse upon which ʿAlī ibn al-Fuḍayl died is in Sūrat al-Anʿām: ‘If only you could see when they are made to stand before the Fire and say, “Would that we were sent back…” ’ [6:27]. It was while reciting this very passage that he passed away, and I was among those who offered the funeral prayer over him—may Allah have mercy on him.” (3)

ʿAbd al-Ḥāfiẓ ibn Badrān and Yūsuf ibn Aḥmad informed us, saying: Mūsā ibn ʿAbd al-Qādir informed us; Saʿīd ibn al-Bannāʾ informed us; ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad informed us; Abū Ṭāhir al-Mukhlīṣ informed us; Abū Muḥammad Yaḥyā ibn Muḥammad informed us; Muḥammad ibn Zunbūr al-Makkī narrated to us—