1965 — Abū Muhammad ibn Nājiya also informed us: Ahmad ibn Uthmān ibn Hakīm narrated to us: Abū Ghassān Mālik ibn Ismāīl al-Nahdī narrated to us: Umar ibn Ziyād al-Hilālī narrated to us, from Abd al-Malik ibn Nawfal ibn Musāhiq al-Madanī, of Banū Āmir ibn Luayy, ⦗2474⦘ who said:
Hind bint Utba ibn Rabīa said to her father, “My dear father, I am now mistress of my own affairs”—this was when al-Fākih ibn al-Mughīra had separated from her—“so do not marry me to any man until you have presented him to me.”
He replied, “You shall have that.”
One day he said to her, “My dear daughter, two men from your people have sought your hand. I shall not name either of them until I have described him to you.
“The first is of unalloyed nobility and illustrious lineage. His guilelessness may make you think him foolish, but that is merely the easy gentleness of his disposition. He is an excellent companion and quick to oblige. If you go along with him, he will go along with you; and if you sway him, he will take your side. You will have your way with his wealth, and your own judgment will suffice you in place of his.
“As for the other, in lineage and shrewd judgment he is the full moon of his stock and the glory of his clan. He disciplines his household, and they do not discipline him. If they follow him, he treats them gently; but if they cross him, he treats them harshly. He is fiercely protective, quick to flare up, and the curtain of his tent is closely guarded. When he argues a case, his proofs are never wanting, and when challenged, he cannot be overcome. I have now made the character of both men clear to you.”
She replied, “As for the first, he is a master obeyed by his noble wife, yet compliant with her in whatever she might desire. Unless she holds herself firmly in check, she may grow yielding after having held aloof and come to ruin beneath her own tent. If she bears him a child, she will bear a fool; and even if she bears a worthy child, it will have been sired by an unpromising man. Put all mention of him aside, and do not tell me his name ⦗2475⦘.
“As for the other, he is a husband fit for a noble freewoman. This man’s character is precisely to my liking, and I am well suited to him. I shall abide by a husband’s discipline, remain within my tent, and require little for my maintenance. A son born to him and me would indeed be worthy to defend the inviolable precinct of his clan, protect its fighting force, safeguard its honor, and adorn its stock—neither leaving his duties to others nor proving a coward when calamities shake all before them. Who is he?”
He replied, “That is Abū Sufyān ibn Harb ibn Umayya.”
She said, “Marry me to him. Do not hand me over to him like one meekly surrendering, but neither bargain over me like a harsh and obstinate haggler. Seek Allah’s choice in heaven, and by His knowledge He will choose what is best for you in His decree.”