328 – Abu Jaʿfar al-Qurashi narrated to me, from a gentleman of Quraysh, who said:

Khalid ibn Ṣafwān declared, “I spent the night reflecting, until I had filled the whole green sea ⦗153⦘ with red gold. Then I looked again and saw that all I should ever need of it would be two loaves of bread and two tattered garments.”

Another transmitter added, “When I considered my situation, I realised that my wish had been the wish of a fool.”

Al-Husayn ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥman also recited to me, quoting Ibrahim ibn Dawud, verses on the same theme:

I took my soul to account and found that all
The earth contains—what suffices it is small:
Food to keep the backbone straight, though slight,
And ragged clothes that hide it from the light.
If it is content with what suffices here,
Then Allah Himself will make it rich and clear;
But if it craves the useless excess that will slay,
Then let the dust be shoved into its mouth one day.