Baghdad; and in Baghdad there is nothing like the quarter of al-Qaṭīʿah, and in al-Qaṭīʿah there is nothing like Darb Abī Khalaf, and in that alley there is nothing to equal my house. (1)

Abū Bakr al-Khaṭīb also records an anecdote whose gist is that a man had attended the Friday prayer and noticed an ascetic who had not prayed. He spoke to him, and the ascetic replied, “Conceal my situation! I owe Daʿlaj five thousand, and when I caught sight of him I lost my ritual purity.”

When this reached Daʿlaj he summoned the man to his house, absolved him of the debt, and even presented him with an equivalent sum because he had frightened him. (2)

Al-Khaṭīb said: Abū Manṣūr Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-ʿUkbarī narrated to us; Aḥmad b. al-Ḥusayn, the preacher, related to me: Abū ʿAbd Allāh b. Abī Mūsā al-Hāshimī had been entrusted with ten thousand dinars belonging to an orphan. His own resources became tight, so he spent the money. When the boy grew up and was allowed to claim his property,

Ibn Abī Mūsā said: The earth seemed to close in on me and I was bewildered. Early one morning I mounted my mule and headed toward al-Karkh. The mule carried me to Darb al-Salūlī and halted at the door of Daʿlaj’s mosque. I entered and prayed the dawn prayer behind him. When he finished he greeted me warmly. We rose and went into his house, where a dish of harīsah was set before us. I ate only a little. He said, “I see you are troubled.” I told him what had happened. He said, “Eat, for your need will be met.” When we had finished, he called for gold and the scales and weighed out ten thousand dinars for me.

I left almost flying with joy. I placed the money on the pommel (3) of my saddle and covered it with my cloak. Then I delivered the sum to the youth in the presence of the Chief Judge, who spoke highly of me. On my return home, one of the caliph’s sons sent for me and said, “I should like to conduct business with you…"