13 – Al-Ḥasan b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Jarawī related to me; Abū Mushir related to us; Ismāʿīl b. Muʿāwiyah related to me; he said: I heard Yūnus b. Ḥalbas say:

News reached Muʿāwiyah that ʿAbd Allāh b. Jaʿfar had fallen into ḥafaf—that is, hardship and strain brought on by his continual spending and generosity. Muʿāwiyah therefore wrote to him, instructing him to show moderation, encouraging him to adopt it, forbidding him extravagance and censuring him for it. In the letter he quoted two lines of verse [in the Wāfir meter]:

A man’s wealth sets him aright and makes him self-sufficient;
Shielding his poverty is nobler than mere contentment.
With it he repels sudden disasters that assail him
On days that burst forth like surging streams.

He continued: ʿAbd Allāh b. Jaʿfar—may Allah the Exalted grant him mercy—wrote back [in the Ṭawīl meter]:

Ask the way-worn night visitor, O Umm Khālid,
Whenever you see me between fire and slaughtering.
Shall I withhold my face? It is the first token of hospitality;
Shall I withhold my kindness and offer them ugliness instead?
I ransom my honor with my wealth—and what, I pray,
Could your brother buy once his honor is lost?
Each night noble, generous youths arrive with requests,
While my wealth ranges free—not the wealth of one in straits.

He said: Muʿāwiyah was impressed by what he had written and ordered that forty thousand dinars be given to him as help toward settling his debt.