438 — Abu Zayd al-Numayrī informed me, saying: Abd al-Malik al-Mājishūn related to me, saying: Abu al-Sā'ib related to us, saying:

“I sent word to Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Amr ibn Uthman, asking him for a milch she-camel for one of our family. While I was sitting there, a number of camels were suddenly driven in; then there appeared a Black slave wearing a turban. I said, ‘O keeper of the camels, this is not your route.’ He handed me a letter, and it read: ‘You asked us for a milch she-camel, so I gathered for you everything I had at hand. Here, then, are nineteen, together with their herdsman. They are sacrificial offerings if you return any of them.’”

He said: “I sold eighteen of them and thereby built up a fortune.”