—at the door of his house. We greeted him and sat down, whereupon he turned his full attention to us. When we persisted in asking, he related two hadiths and then said, “The people of hadith are like a fisherman who casts his net into the water: he strives hard, and if he pulls up a fish he rejoices, but if not, he hauls up a stone.”

Aḥmad b. Jaʿfar b. Salm said: One of our teachers told us that it was said to Ibrāhīm al-Ḥarbī, “Have you ever earned anything through knowledge?” He replied, “I earned half a fals through it. My mother used to give me two loaves of bread every day together with a small pouch that held half a dānq. One day, when the roads were muddy, I resolved to eat something sweet, and I found nothing cheaper than date molasses. So I went to a grocer and handed him the pouch; it turned out to contain a qīrāṭ minus half a fals. We then began discussing the traditions on generosity and open-handedness.

The grocer said, ‘Abū Isḥāq, you record reports and hadith; relate to us a hadith about generosity.’

I said, ‘Certainly. Abū Bakr ʿAbd Allāh b. al-Zubayr narrated to me, my father narrated to us, from one of his shaykhs, who said:

ʿAbd Allāh b. Jaʿfar once went out to inspect his estates. In an orchard that belonged to a relative of his he saw a black slave holding a loaf of bread. The slave would eat a bite and throw a bite to a dog. When ʿAbd Allāh observed this, he was struck by it and asked, “Boy, whose servant are you?” He answered, “I belong to Musʿab b. al-Zubayr.” He asked, “And whose property is this?” He replied, “His.” ʿAbd Allāh said, “I have witnessed something remarkable from you—you eat a morsel and give the dog a morsel!” The slave said, “I am ashamed, when an eye is watching me, to prefer myself over it.”

So ʿAbd Allāh returned to Medina, purchased the estate and the slave, and then came back; the slave was still there. He said, “Boy, I have bought you from Musʿab.” The boy leapt up and said, “May God make my appearance auspicious for you.” He continued, “And I have bought this estate as well.” The slave replied, “May God complete its goodness for you.” ʿAbd Allāh said, “I bear witness that you are free for the sake of God.” The slave answered, “May God reward you with goodness.” ʿAbd Allāh added, “And I call God to witness that this estate is a gift from me to you.” The slave said, “May God reward you with the best.” Then the slave declared, “I call God to witness—and I call you to witness—that I make this estate a waqf (charitable endowment) for the poor.”’