—by al-Mahdī.

I then said, “If the Commander of the Faithful would kindly summon him so that I may hear his claim.” The man was brought in and asserted his ownership of the garden.

I asked, “What do you say, Commander of the Faithful?”

He replied, “The garden is mine.”

I turned to the claimant and said, “You have heard his answer.”

The man responded, “Let him swear an oath.”

So I said, “Will you swear, Commander of the Faithful?”

He said, “No.”

I announced, “I shall tender the oath to you three times; if you take it, well and good—otherwise I shall rule against you, Commander of the Faithful.” I presented the oath three times; he refused each time, so I awarded the garden to the claimant.

He (Abū Yūsuf) continued: “Throughout the litigation I kept wishing the matter would conclude, for I could not seat the man beside the Caliph. I therefore dispatched instructions for the garden to be handed over to him.”

Al-Muʿafā ibn Zakariyā al-Jarīrī related, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Abī al-Azhar, from Ḥammād ibn Abī Isḥāq al-Mawṣilī, from his father, from Bishr ibn al-Walīd, from Abū Yūsuf, who said:

“One night I had fallen asleep in bed when the Caliph’s messenger knocked at the door. I hurried out, alarmed. He said, ‘The Commander of the Faithful summons you.’ I went, and there he was, seated with ʿĪsā ibn Jaʿfar.

“Al-Rashīd said to me, ‘I asked this man for a slave-girl—either to give her to me as a gift or to sell her to me—but he refused both. I call you to witness: if he does not comply, I shall kill him.’

“I said to ʿĪsā, ‘Why did you not comply?’

“He replied, ‘I have sworn—invoking divorce, manumission, and the charity of all my wealth—that I will neither sell her nor give her away.’

“Al-Rashīd then asked me, ‘Is there a way out for him?’

“I said, ‘Yes: he may sell you half of her and gift you the other half.’ So he gifted him one half and sold him the other for 100,000 dinars. The Caliph accepted, and the girl was brought in.

“When al-Rashīd saw her he asked, ‘May I be with her tonight?’

“I replied, ‘She is still a slave; she must undergo the istibrāʾ (womb-clearing waiting period), unless you emancipate her and marry her—for a free woman is not subject to istibrāʾ.’

“He therefore set her free and married her, assigning her a dowry of 20,000 dinars, and he ordered that I be given 200,000 dirhams and twenty chests of garments (1). I, in turn, sent the girl 10,000 dinars.

Yahyā ibn Maʿīn said: “I was with Abū Yūsuf when a present arrived for him consisting of Dabiqī cloth (2), perfume, carved pieces of aloes-wood, and other items. A man reminded me of the chain for the hadith, ‘Whoever is given a gift while people are sitting with him, they are his partners in it’ (3).

“Abū Yūsuf remarked, ‘That applies only to curd, dates, and raisins; gifts in those days were nothing like what you are seeing now. Boy, carry this into the treasury.’ And he gave them nothing of it (4).

Bishr ibn Ghiyāth al-Marīsī said: “I heard Abū Yūsuf say, ‘I kept the company of Abū Ḥanīfah for seventeen years; then the world poured its riches upon me for seventeen years. I do not think my appointed time is far off.’ And he lived only a few months after that until …”