484 — Abū Ja‘far al-Madanī related to me, from Muhammad ibn Harb al-Hilālī, who said: ‘Utbah ibn Abī Sufyān performed the Hajj in the year 41 AH. He ascended the pulpit, praised Allah, and then said:

“O people, we have been entrusted with this office, in which the reward of one who does good is multiplied, as is the burden of sin upon one who does evil. We are firmly set upon the course we have chosen, so do not crane your necks toward anyone besides us, for those necks will be severed before they reach us. Many a man has found his death in the very thing he wished for. Accept peace from us so long as we accept it from you. Beware of saying, ‘If only,’ for it exhausted those before you and will bring no relief to those after you. We ask Allah to help us all in our dealings with one another.”

A Bedouin intercepted him and called out, “O Caliph!”

He replied, “I am not he, though you were not far off.”

The man said, “Then, O brother of the Caliph!”

He replied, “You have made yourself heard; now speak.”

The man said, “By my life, your treating us well when we have done wrong is better than your treating us badly when we have done right. If good treatment comes from you, how worthy you are to carry it through! But if it comes from us, how deserving we are of your recompense!”

‘Utbah asked him, “Who are you?”

He replied, “A man from Banū ‘Āmir ibn Sa‘sa‘ah, joined to you by the general bond of paternal kinship and linked to you in particular through maternal kinship. He has many dependents, hard times have trampled him, he is poor, and yet he is grateful.”

‘Utbah said, “I ask Allah’s forgiveness concerning you and seek His help in dealing with you. I have ordered that you be given enough to free you from want. If only my promptness now could make amends for my earlier neglect of you.”