- ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; my father narrated to me; ʿAmr ibn ʿĀṣim narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Maʿn al-Nahshalī narrated to me; Naṣr ibn Ḥassān al-ʿAnbarī—the grandfather of Muʿādh ibn Ḥuṣayn ibn al-Ḥasan, the grandfather of ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Ḥasan—recounted:
“I traveled to al-Shām (Greater Syria) and asked about ʿĀmir. I was told, ‘He lodges with an old woman over there.’ I went to her and inquired after him. She said, ‘He spends his days and nights at the foot of that mountain. If you have some business with him, seek him out when he breaks his fast.’
“So I went to him, offered the salām, and he returned it. He then put to me the sort of questions one would ask a man he had met only yesterday. He did not inquire about any member of his family or clan, nor did he invite me to supper.
“I said, ‘O ʿĀmir, I have seen something astonishing from you.’
“He replied, ‘And what is that?’
“I said, ‘You have been absent from your family and kinsfolk for as long as you know, yet you did not ask me who among them has died and who remains alive, though you are aware of my close connection to them. You questioned me as though we had first met only yesterday, and you did not invite me to the evening meal.’
“He answered, ‘As for your remark about my questioning you: I found you to be a righteous man, so about what should I question you? As for my clan and my household, I make no inquiries about them; whoever among them has died is dead, and whoever has not yet died will surely die. Concerning your comment that I did not invite you to supper: I have seen you partake of the food of princes, whereas my food is coarse, and I did not suppose you were in need of it.’”