446 — Sulaymān ibn Mansūr related to me, saying: Muhammad ibn al-Hakam related to me, on the authority of Awānah ibn al-Hakam, who said:

Saīd ibn Khālid ibn Abd Allah ibn Khālid ibn Usayd ibn Abī al-Īs came before Sulaymān ibn Abd al-Malik. When Sulaymān saw him entering, he quoted:

[Kāmil meter]

“I heard a herald call at break of day:
‘Who will help against the ever-helpful youth?’”

“By Allah, this is that very youth! Who, then, will help against him?” He then asked, “What do you need, Abū Khālid?”

“Pay off my debt for me,” he replied.

“How much is your debt?”

“I owe thirty thousand dinars.”

“Then I have paid it for you.”

Saīd ibn Khālid would be overtaken by a seizure for half of each year and lie helpless throughout it; during the other half, he would be well. Whenever he was well, he gave freely and fed people. If he had nothing and someone came seeking his bounty, he would say, “I have nothing, but draw up a bond against me for such-and-such an amount.” The man would then draw up the bond and have it witnessed.

Saīd’s sons came before Hishām ibn Abd al-Malik when he was caliph and said, “Our father is squandering his wealth. When he has nothing, he writes promissory notes against himself for anyone who asks him. Place him under legal restraint.” Hishām therefore placed him under restraint and told his sons, “Set aside something for his table.” They allotted him one sheep each day, together with everything needed to serve it. He would say to his sons, “My sons, it is only one sheep a day!”—for he considered that too little.

Earlier, when they sought to treat him, they recited an incantation over him. A woman then spoke through him, saying, “I am Ruqayyah, daughter of Milhān, chief of the jinn. By Allah, if you treat him, I will surely kill him. Had I found anyone among humankind more generous than he, I would have attached myself to him.”