63 – The judge Abū al-Qāsim informed us; Abū ʿAlī narrated to us; ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us; al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān conveyed to me, on the authority of a shaykh from the tribe of Bāhila, who said:

Whenever Maslama ibn ʿAbd al-Malik saw petitioners gathering in large numbers and feared he might become impatient, he would say to his usher, “Admit my close companions.” They would be let in, and he and they would pass the time extolling people’s virtues and noble qualities. The conversation would delight and invigorate him until he felt what a drinker feels under wine’s spell. He would then say to his chamberlain, “Now admit the petitioners,” and not a single one of them would depart without having his request granted.