city we saw a fire flickering in the distance and said, “Perhaps a traveller has camped there.” We made for the fire and came upon a widow with three children, all of them crying. She had set a pot upon the flames and was saying, “My Lord, grant me justice against ʿUmar and take my right from him, for he is full while we are hungry.”

When ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab heard that, he stepped forward, greeted her, and said, “Do you permit me to draw near?” She answered, “If you bring good, then in the name of Allah, come.” He approached and asked about her circumstances and those of the hungry children; exhaustion and hunger had overtaken them and kept them from sleep. ʿUmar asked, “What is in this pot?” She replied, “Only water—I keep it boiling to busy them so that they will think food is on the way and be patient.”

Ziyad continued: The Commander of the Faithful turned back, went to the fat merchant and bought some fat, then to the flour seller and bought a sack of flour. He hoisted the whole load onto his own shoulders and set out in search of the woman and her children. I said, “O Commander of the Faithful, let me carry it for you.” He replied, “If you carry it for me, who will carry my sins for me? And who will stand between me and the supplication of that woman and her children against me?” He hurried on, weeping, until we reached them. The woman said, “May Allah reward you with the best of rewards on our behalf.”

ʿUmar took some flour and a portion of fat, put them in the pot, and kindled the fire himself. Whenever it began to die down he would blow on it, ashes falling over his face and beard, until the food was cooked. He then poured it into a bowl and said to her, “Eat.” She and the children ate, and ʿUmar said, “O woman, do not pray against ʿUmar; he had no knowledge of you or your children.”

ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab was the first to be called “Commander of the Faithful.” Abu Bakr—may Allah be pleased with him—had been addressed as “Successor to the Messenger of Allah.” When authority passed to ʿUmar, people would say, “O successor to the successor of the Messenger of Allah,” which was too wordy. So he said, “Believers, call me ‘amir’ (commander), for I am your commander; and if you choose to call me ‘Commander of the Faithful,’ that indeed is what I am—ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab.”

Anecdote: Someone asked the keeper of the public treasury whether ʿUmar took liberties with its funds. He replied, “At first, if he had nothing to live on he would take a small amount for his sustenance; whenever he later acquired anything, he returned it to the treasury.” On one occasion he delivered a sermon and said, “O people, I have…"