make me regarded as truthful in transmitting the ḥadīth of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and He did.
I asked Him to cause people to come to me each morning in search of knowledge, and He did.
I asked Him to let me preach from the pulpit of Damascus, and He did.
I asked Him to grant me one thousand dinars, lawfully acquired, and He did.

He was then asked, “We understand everything else, but one thousand lawful dinars—how did you come by them?”
He replied, “When al-Mutawakkil settled in Damascus and the palace that had been built for him in Darayya was completed, he sent one of his sons to record ḥadīth from me.

“At the time we wore waist-wrappers and did not wear trousers. I sat down, my private part became uncovered, and the young man saw it. He said, ‘Cover yourself, uncle!’
‘I asked, “Did you see it?”
‘He answered, “Yes.”
‘I said, “Then—if Allah wills—your eye will never be afflicted with ophthalmia.”

“When the youth went in to al-Mutawakkil, he laughed. Al-Mutawakkil asked him what had happened, and the youth told him what I had said. Al-Mutawakkil remarked, ‘A good omen! A man of learning has spoken an auspicious word for you. Give him one thousand dinars.’

“They were brought to me; they reached me without my asking and without my even hoping for them.

“This is an isolated anecdote, but it may well have occurred.”

Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān al-Rabaʿī said: Muḥammad ibn al-Fayḍ al-Ghassānī narrated to us: I heard Hishām ibn ʿAmmār say:

“My father sold a house of his for twenty dinars (1) and outfitted me for the pilgrimage. When I reached Medina I attended Mālik’s study circle, carrying questions I wished to ask him.

“I found him seated in regal fashion, pages standing around him. People were putting questions to him and he was answering them.

“When the session ended, one of the ḥadīth scholars said to me, ‘Ask about what you have with you.’

“So I said to him, ‘Abū ʿAbd Allah, what do you say about such and such?’

“He answered, ‘We have caught ourselves a youngster. Boy, carry him.’

“The servant lifted me as a child is lifted—though I was already a discerning youth—and he struck me with a teacher’s switch, seventeen strokes. I stood there weeping.

“He said to me, ‘What makes you cry? Did these…’