465 — Muhammad ibn Abbād ibn Mūsā narrated to me, saying: My nephew Mūsā narrated to me, from Alī ibn al-Mundhir, from al-Zubayr ibn Mūsā al-Makhzūmī, who said:

Al-Walīd ibn Abd al-Malik was intensely envious of his own people. When they entered his presence, the first to come forward was Uwayf al-Qawāfī. Al-Walīd said, “Stay where you are! What praise have you left for us after what you said in praise of the brother of Banū Zuhra? Did the Hour not overtake us on the day it overtook him? Are you not the one who said:

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‘When your appointed day comes, O Ibn Awf,
may the sky no longer rain upon the earth;

may no courier ride with news of an army’s spoils,
nor women conceive while pure;

and after you, O Ibn Awf, people shall pass around
the swift draught of death, for which there is no cure.’”

He then said, “Send him away,” and Uwayf departed. The Qurayshis and Syrians met him and said, “A man from the Hijaz who administered its alms—what did he use to draw such praise from you?”

He replied, “By Allah, others gave me more than he did. Yet, by Allah, no one ever gave me a gift that left me with more enduring gratitude or more lasting pleasure in my heart than a gift he once gave me. I had come to Medina intending to buy a young camel from among the camels collected as alms. I had with me funds amounting to less than ten dinars. There in the market square I saw a man seated on a rug, with camels before him that had been kept at the watering enclosure—that is, confined there. When I saw him, I assumed that he was the market official. I greeted him, and he recognized me, though I did not recognize him. I said, ‘May Allah have mercy on you. Would you help me with your discerning eye to choose one of these young camels and purchase it for me?’

“He replied, ‘Yes. Do you have its price with you?’

“I said, ‘Yes,’ and handed it to him. I then sat there for a long while before going over to him and saying, ‘May Allah have mercy on you; please attend to my need.’

“He replied, ‘Nothing kept me from helping you except that I forgot. Do you have a rope?’

“I said, ‘Yes.’

“He called out, ‘Make way here!’ and the people opened a path for him. Then he said, ‘Tie this one to that one.’ He did not stop until he had ordered that I be given thirty camels of the classes prescribed as zakat, the least valuable of which was worth more than all my capital.

“I exclaimed, ‘May Allah have mercy on you! Do you realize what you are saying?’ Everyone present then shoved me and cursed me. He lifted his rug and said, ‘Take back your capital and use it to help provide for those to whom you are returning.’ By Allah, so long as I live, I shall never forget him.”

Uwayf al-Qawāfī praised him—he was Talha ibn Abd Allāh ibn Awf—saying:

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“O Talha, you are bounty’s brother and its sworn ally;
if Talha dies, then bounty too shall die.

The noblest deeds have come to you and there unsaddled;
wherever you make your lodging, there they too abide.”