478 — Abū Bakr said: Musab ibn Abd Allāh al-Zubayrī said: Musab ibn Uthmān related to me, from Nawfal ibn Umāra, that a man of Quraysh from Banū Umayya ibn Abd Shams, a man of standing and consequence, fell into debt. He owned date palms and cultivated land, and he feared that his property would be sold to repay the debt. He therefore left Medina for Kūfa, intending to seek out Khālid ibn Abd Allāh al-Qasrī, who governed Iraq on behalf of Hishām ibn Abd al-Malik and treated members of Quraysh who came to him generously.

The man set out to see him, taking gifts prepared from the choicest products of Medina. When he reached Fayd and morning came, he saw a pavilion with a group of people gathered around it. He asked who was staying there and was told, “Al-Hakam ibn al-Muttalib.” He put on his sandals and went to see him. When al-Hakam saw him, he rose and went forward to receive him, greeted him, and seated him in the place of honor upon his bedding. He then asked what had brought him there. The man told him about his debt and his intention to visit Khālid ibn Abd Allāh.

Al-Hakam said to him, “Come with me to your lodging. Had I known of your arrival, I would have come to you first.” He accompanied the man to his lodging and saw the gifts he had prepared for Khālid. After speaking with him for a while, al-Hakam said, “Our lodging is better provisioned, for you are traveling while we are settled here. I adjure you to come with me to our lodging and allow us a share of these gifts.”

The man rose and went with him, saying, “Take whatever you wish.” Al-Hakam ordered that all the gifts be carried to his lodging, and the man was too embarrassed to withhold any of them. Once they reached al-Hakam’s lodging, he called for the midday meal and ordered the gifts to be opened. He ate some of them, as did those present, and then ordered the remainder to be placed in his storeroom.

Al-Hakam rose, and everyone else rose with him. Then he turned to the man and said, “I have a greater claim upon you than Khālid does, and I am more closely bound to you by kinship and residence. Here are funds set aside for debtors, and you are more entitled to them than anyone else. No one has any favor over you in this but Allah. Use them to repay your debt.” He then called for a purse containing 3,000 dinars and handed it to him.

He said, “Allah has spared you the long journey. Return to your family accompanied and protected.” The man rose to leave, praying for him and expressing his gratitude. His only thought was now to return to his family.

Al-Hakam went out to see him off and traveled with him for some distance. He then said, “I can almost hear your wife saying to you, ‘Where are Iraq’s choice wares—its cloth, brocade, and homecoming presents? Were we not to have any share of what you brought?’” He then produced a purse that he had brought with him, containing 500 dinars, and said, “I adjure you to give this to her in place of the gifts from Iraq.” He bade the man farewell and departed.

Musab ibn Uthmān said: I pressed Nawfal ibn Umāra earnestly to identify the man for me, but he refused.