ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar, together with several members of his household, said: “We used to ask Allah to let us see ʿUmar in a dream. After twelve years I finally saw him, looking as though he had just bathed and was wrapped in a cloth. I said, ‘O Commander of the Believers, how did you find your Lord, and for which of your deeds did He reward you?’ He replied, ‘ʿAbd Allah, how long has it been since I left you?’ I said, ‘Twelve years.’ He said, ‘From the moment I parted with you I have been held up in the accounting, afraid I might perish—yet Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful, Generous and Bountiful.’ Such was ʿUmar’s state, and he owned nothing of the trappings of authority in this world except his staff.”

Story: Caesar, the king of the Byzantines, sent an envoy to observe ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab and witness his conduct. When the envoy entered Madinah he asked its people, “Where is your king?” They said, “We have no king; we have an amir who has gone to the outskirts of the city.” The envoy went out in search of him and found him sleeping in the sun on the bare ground, on the hot sand, with his staff placed under his head as a pillow. Sweat dripped from him until it dampened the earth. When the envoy saw him in that state, awe filled his heart and he said, “A man before whose majesty all the kings of the earth cannot keep their composure—yet this is his condition! O ʿUmar, you acted justly, so you felt secure and slept, whereas our ruler oppresses and therefore lies awake in fear. I testify that your religion is the true religion. Were it not that I have come as an envoy, I would embrace Islam at once; I shall return after this and accept it.”

O ruler, the peril of holding office is immense and its burden weighty; to explain it fully would take a long time. A governor will be safe only if he keeps close to the devotees of religion, who can teach him the paths of justice and help him bear the danger of this charge.

The second principle:
He must always yearn to visit the scholars, be keen to listen to their advice, and beware of the corrupt scholars who covet the world. They will flatter you, deceive you, and seek your approval out of greed for the vile lucre and ruinous unlawful wealth in your possession.