he saw no one without giving him something. Then al-ʿAbbās came and said, “O Messenger of Allah, give me a share, for I ransomed myself and I ransomed ʿAqīl on the day of Badr, and ʿAqīl possessed no wealth.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, “Take.” Al-ʿAbbās then scooped up money into his garment (another version says: into a woollen cloak he was wearing). He tried to lift it but was unable, so he raised his head toward the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, “O Messenger of Allah, order someone to help me raise it onto me.” He said, “No.” “Then you lift it onto me,” he pleaded. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ smiled until his teeth—or canine—became visible and said, “No; leave part of the money behind and carry only what you can manage.” Al-ʿAbbās shook some of it off and tried again to lift it, but still could not. He said, “O Messenger of Allah, order someone to raise it onto me.” He said, “No.” “Then you raise it onto me,” he said. “No,” he answered. So he discarded more of it, then hoisted what remained, placed it on his shoulders, and departed, saying, “As for one of the two promises Allah made us, He has fulfilled it; I do not know what He will do about the other.” He was referring to the verse: “Say to those prisoners in your hands, ‘If Allah knows any good in your hearts, He will give you better than what was taken from you and He will forgive you’” (al-Anfāl 70). “This,” he said, “is better than what was taken from me; I do not know what He will do about the forgiveness.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ kept following him with his gaze until he disappeared from sight, amazed at his eagerness. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not rise until nothing of the money remained—not even a single dirham.

Al-Bukhārī recorded this ḥadith both at length and in abridged form, transmitting it in suspended fashion, saying: “Ibrāhīm ibn Ṭahmān narrated from ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Ṣuhayb, from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him)…,” and then cited it. Al-Ḥāfiẓ said: “Abū Nuʿaym linked its chain in his Mustakhraj, and al-Ḥākim in his Mustadrak, through Aḥmad ibn Ḥafṣ ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Nīsābūrī, from his father, from Ibrāhīm ibn Ṭahmān, and…"