153 – ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated to me; he said: Yūnus ibn Bukayr narrated to us; he said: Abū Jaʿfar al-Manṣūr ⦗120⦘ said to ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Rabīʿ al-Hārithī: “You and I are like the rescuer of Umm ʿĀmir.”

He replied, “Commander of the Faithful, and who is the rescuer of Umm ʿĀmir?”

Al-Manṣūr explained, “A group once went out hunting but found nothing except a hyena. They drove it into the tent of a Bedouin and were about to seize it when he cried out, ‘O household of so-and-so!’ Hearing his call, they withdrew and left the animal. The Bedouin then began feeding it meat and milk until he had fattened it. Later he left on an errand, leaving his ailing brother beside the tent. When he returned, he discovered that the hyena had gone and that his brother had been torn to pieces. Thereupon he recited:

Whoever shows kindness to those unworthy of it
Will meet the fate of the rescuer of Umm ʿĀmir.
He granted her shelter when she fled to his camp,
That she might safely drink the milk of full-uddered camels;
He fattened her until, when she was fully grown,
She rent him with the fangs and claws she bore.
So tell the people of generosity: such is the reward
Of one who extends a hand of goodness to the thankless.

The final verse is from Muḥammad ibn ʿAbbād, who said: I heard Abū Yaḥyā al-Hārithī say to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ṣāliḥ, “Abū Jaʿfar recited this only about Ziyād ibn ʿUbayd Allah al-Hārithī.”