Another story of much the same kind (1)
concerning honesty and trustworthiness
Al-Bukhārī said:
Isḥāq ibn Naṣr narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Razzāq narrated to us, from Maʿmar, from Hammām ibn Munabbih, from Abū Hurayrah, who said:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“A man bought a piece of land from another man. The purchaser found in that land a jar filled with gold. He said to the seller, ‘Take your gold back, for I bought the land from you; I did not buy the gold.’
The seller replied, ‘I sold you the land and everything that is in it.’
So they referred the matter to an arbitrator, who asked, ‘Do either of you have children?’ One said, ‘I have a son,’ and the other said, ‘I have a daughter.’
The arbitrator said, ‘Marry the boy to the girl, provide for them from this gold, and give some of it in charity.’”
This is how al-Bukhārī relates the ḥadīth in his section on the reports of the Children of Israel. Muslim also recorded it, through Muḥammad ibn Rāfiʿ, from ʿAbd al-Razzāq.
It is reported that this incident took place in the era of Dhū al-Qarnayn, who lived many ages before the Children of Israel—Allah knows best.
Isḥāq ibn Bishr (6) said in his book al-Mubtadaʾ, citing Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūbah, from Qatādah, from al-Ḥasan:
“Dhū al-Qarnayn used to inspect the affairs of his kings and governors personally. Whenever he uncovered an act of treachery he denounced it, and he would not accept any accusation until he had verified it himself.
“One day, while traveling incognito through a certain city, he sat with one of its judges for several days, and no litigants came before him. When Dhū al-Qarnayn had stayed for some time and discovered nothing noteworthy about the judge, he prepared to depart. Just then, two men arrived to lodge a dispute.
“One of them said, ‘O judge, I purchased a house from this man, renovated it, and found within it a treasure. I summoned him to take it, but he refused.’ The judge asked the seller, ‘What do you say?’ He replied, ‘I neither buried it nor knew of it; it is not mine, and I will not take it from him.’
“The claimant continued, ‘O judge, order someone to take possession of it and place it wherever you wish.’
“The judge replied, ‘You flee from wrongdoing only to thrust me into it? You have not treated me fairly.’”