“Nor do I think that what you suggest accords with the king’s justice.”
The judge then said, “Would you both agree (1) to a course of action that is fairer than what you have asked of me?”
They replied, “Yes.”
He turned to the plaintiff and asked, “Do you have a son?”
“Yes,” he answered.
He asked the other man, “Do you have a daughter?”
“Yes,” he answered.
The judge said, “Go, then, and marry your daughter to this man’s son. Provide for them (2) out of this treasure and hand over whatever remains so that they may live on it; in that way you will both have transferred to them (3) its good and its evil.”
Dhū al-Qarnayn was astonished when he heard this and said to the judge, “I never imagined there was anyone on earth who would act like this, or any judge who would issue such a ruling.”
The judge—who did not know his identity—replied, “And who would do otherwise?”
Dhū al-Qarnayn said, “Many do.”
The judge asked, “Do they receive rain in their lands?”
Dhū al-Qarnayn was amazed at this and said, “It is by judgments such as this that the heavens and the earth are sustained.”
Another Story
Al-Bukhārī (4) said: Muḥammad ibn Bashshār narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Abī ʿAdī narrated to us, from Shuʿbah, from Qatādah, from Abū al-Ṣiddīq (5) al-Nājī, from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said:
“There was a man among the Children of Israel who had killed (6) ninety-nine people. He then went out seeking guidance and came to a monk, whom he asked, ‘Is there any repentance (7) for me?’ The monk replied, ‘No,’ so he killed him. He continued to inquire until someone told him, ‘Go to such-and-such a village.’ On the way, death overtook him; he collapsed with his chest turned toward that village. The angels of mercy and the angels of punishment disputed over him. Allah revealed to this group, ‘Draw nearer,’ and to that group, ‘Move farther away.’ Then He said, ‘Measure the distance between the two.’ They found him to be nearer to the village by a handspan, so he was forgiven.”
This is how al-Bukhārī records it here in abridged form. Muslim (8) also related it through Bundār, from Shuʿbah, and through another chain from Qatādah in a longer version.