to summon Jaʿfar. When he arrived, Muḥammad set the wine before him and ordered the girl to sing from behind a curtain. Jaʿfar heard her voice yet, out of the nobility of his soul, uttered not a word and allowed no change to show in his manner. Muḥammad ibn al-Amīn then commanded that the skiff in which Jaʿfar had crossed to him be filled with dirhams. Two thousand sealed purses were poured in—altogether twenty million dirhams—until the boatmen cried out, “The vessel can carry no more!” He ordered that the entire amount, together with the girl herself, be sent to Jaʿfar’s house. Such were the aspirations of the great.
A sage was once asked, “Who is the highest of people in rank?” He replied, “The one whose ambition is loftiest, whose knowledge is widest, whose understanding is deepest, and whose spiritual state is purest.” He was then asked, “To whom should one turn for rescue from ill fortune and narrow straits?” He answered, “To kings and grandees, to those of exalted aspiration and noble, lofty souls,” as the saying goes, “Live beside the sea and you will become a king.”
Story: Saʿd ibn Sālim al-Bāhilī said, “During the reign of Hārūn al-Rashīd my circumstances grew severe. Debts accumulated about me, some of which I was utterly unable to pay; meeting them became impossible. Creditors gathered at my door, claimants pressed in, and those I owed would not leave me. My resourcefulness failed and my anxiety increased. I therefore went to ʿAbd Allāh ibn Mālik al-Khuzaʿī, seeking his advice and asking him to guide me to an avenue of relief. ʿAbd Allāh said, ‘No one can free you from your ordeal, distress, and straitened circumstances except the Barāmikah.’ I replied, ‘But who can endure their arrogance, or be patient with their pride and overbearing ways?’ He said, ‘Bear it for the sake of setting your affairs aright.’
“So I went to al-Faḍl and Jaʿfar, the two sons of Yaḥyā ibn Khālid, laid out my story before them, and disclosed the grief within me. They said, ‘May Allah aid you and grant you sufficiency.’ I returned to ʿAbd Allāh ibn Mālik heavy-hearted, my thoughts divided, my spirit broken, and repeated to him what they had said. He told me, ‘Stay with us today so that we may see what Allah decrees.’ I sat with him for a while, when suddenly my servant came and said…"