He traveled to Basra, took part in the Persian campaign, and visited al-Madāʾin several times. He was twenty-two years old when the Prophet ﷺ passed away. Whenever something from his property delighted him, he would use it to draw nearer to Allah—Exalted is He. His slaves came to know this about him: one of them might remain constantly in the mosque, and when Ibn ʿUmar saw him in that state he would set him free. People told him, “They are deceiving you,” but he would reply, “Whoever tricks us for Allah’s sake, we accept the trick for His sake.” (1)

He had a female slave he loved dearly, yet he manumitted her and married her to his freedman Nāfiʿ, saying, “Allah the Exalted says, ‘You will never attain righteousness until you spend of that which you love’ (Āl ʿImrān 3:92).” (2)

He once bought a choice riding camel for a large sum; after mounting it and finding it pleasing he said, “O Nāfiʿ, add it to the zakat camels.” (3)

ʿAbd Allah ibn Jaʿfar offered him ten thousand dinars for Nāfiʿ. When someone asked why he did not sell, he replied, “What I have chosen is better: he is free for the sake of Allah.”

On another occasion he purchased a slave boy for forty thousand and set him free. The boy said, “My master, you have manumitted me—grant me something to live on,” so he gave him another forty thousand. Once he bought five slaves and then stood to pray; they formed a row behind him and prayed as well. He asked, “For whom did you perform this prayer?” They answered, “For Allah!” He said, “Then you are free for the One for whom you prayed,” and he emancipated them. What matters is that (4) he did not die before freeing a thousand souls. He might give away thirty thousand in charity during a single session, and long stretches—many days, even a whole month—would pass in which he never tasted meat unless an orphan was eating with him.

Muʿāwiyah sent him one hundred thousand when he wanted Ibn ʿUmar to pledge allegiance to Yazīd, yet a full year had not passed before none of it remained in his possession.

He used to say, “I never ask anyone for anything, and whatever Allah provides I never turn away.”

During the civil strife (fitna) he would approach a governor only to pray behind him and deliver to him the zakat on his wealth. He was the most knowledgeable of people concerning the rites of ḥajj. He would follow the very tracks of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and pray wherever he had prayed. The Prophet once alighted beneath a tree, and Ibn ʿUmar would visit that tree regularly and pour water at its base. (5)

If he missed the congregational ʿIshāʾ prayer he would enliven the entire night. He spent most nights standing in prayer. It was said that when he died his merit was like that of his father; on the day he passed away he was the best of those who remained alive. For sixty years he issued legal opinions to people from every land.