20 – ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. Hāniʾ narrated to me; Aḥmad b. Shubbūyah narrated to me; Sulaymān b. Ṣāliḥ narrated to me; ʿAbd Allah b. al-Mubārak narrated to me, from Juwairiyah b. Asmāʾ, from Salm b. Qutaybah, who said:

Bashīr b. ʿUbayd Allah b. Abī Bakrah passed by me and asked, “What has made you sit here?” I replied, “There is a dispute between me and a cousin of mine; he is claiming a share of my house.” He said, “Your father once did me a favor, and I wish to repay it to you. By Allah, I have never seen anything that more undermines a person’s religion, diminishes his honor, wastes his pleasure, or distracts his heart than litigation.”

So I rose to leave. My adversary said, “What is the matter with you?” I answered, “I will not contend with you.” He said, “So you concede that it is my right.” I said, “No, but I wish to preserve my dignity, and I relinquish the matter to you.” He replied, “Then I will not take from it anything that belongs to you.”

A short while later I passed by and found him disputing again. I reminded him of his earlier words, and he said, “Had it been only ten times the value of your case I would have let it go—but this is the land of Mirghāb, worth more than twenty million.”