158 — Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn Hāni narrated to me. Ahmad ibn Shabbawayh narrated to me. Sulaymān ibn Sālih narrated to me. Abd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak narrated to me, from Juwayriya ibn Asmā, from Salm ibn Qutayba, who said:

Bashīr ibn Abd Allāh ibn Abī Bakra passed by me and asked, “What keeps you sitting here?” I replied, “A dispute between me and a cousin of mine who has laid claim to something in my house.” He said, “Your father once did me a favor, and I wish to repay you for it. By Allah, I have never seen anything more destructive of one’s religion, more damaging to one’s honor, more ruinous to enjoyment, or more distracting to the heart than litigation.”

I therefore rose to leave. My opponent asked, “What is the matter with you?” I replied, “I will not dispute with you.” He asked, “Have you realized that it is rightfully mine?” I replied, “No, but I hold myself above this, and I shall let you have what you seek.” He said, “Then I will not ask you for anything that belongs to you.”

Later, I passed by Bashīr while he was engaged in a dispute, so I reminded him of what he had said. He replied, “Had it amounted to ten times the value of your dispute, I would have done the same. But this concerns al-Mirghāb, which is worth more than twenty million.”