422 — Ibrāhīm ibn Sa‘īd narrated to me: al-Husayn ibn Muhammad narrated to me; Qays ibn al-Rabī‘ narrated to us, from ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Atā’, from Abū Ja‘far, who said:

“‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib—may Allah be pleased with him—did not die until his annual income had reached one hundred thousand. Yet on the day he died, he owed a debt of seventy thousand.”

I asked, “How had he come to owe this debt?” He replied:

“Members of his close circle—his relations by marriage and acquaintances—would come to him. They were people whom he did not consider entitled to any share of the fay’ revenues, so he would give to them. When al-Hasan ibn ‘Alī took his place, he sold property and drew upon some of his lesser assets until he had discharged the debt on his behalf. Thereafter, until his own death, he would emancipate fifty slaves on his behalf each year. Then al-Husayn would emancipate fifty slaves on his behalf until he was killed. No one after the two of them continued this practice.”