158 – ʿAbd Allāh related to us; my father related to us; Abū Muʿāwiyah related to us; al-Aʿmash related to us, from ʿAmr ibn Murrah, from Abū al-Bakhtari, who said:

A man from Banū ʿAbs travelled with Salmān—may Allah be pleased with him—so that he might learn from him. Yet he could never outdo Salmān in any act of service: if he himself kneaded the dough, Salmān would bake the bread; and if he watered the riding animals, Salmān would already have laid out their fodder.

They continued until they reached the Tigris, which was in flood. Salmān said to him, “Go down and drink.” The man drank, whereupon Salmān told him, “Drink some more,” so he drank again. Then Salmān asked, “How much do you suppose you have taken from it?” He replied, “What could I possibly have taken away from something like this?” Salmān said, “Knowledge is the same: you take from it and it is not diminished”—and on another occasion he added, “nor does it ever decrease—so devote yourself to that which benefits you.”

We then crossed to a nearby river, and there were heaps of wheat and barley along its banks. Salmān said, “Brother of Banū ʿAbs, do you not see that the One who has opened the treasuries of all this for us was aware of it while Muḥammad ﷺ was still alive?” I said, “Indeed.” He continued, “By Him besides Whom there is no god, we used to reach morning and evening and not one of us possessed even a single qafīz of wheat.”

He journeyed on until we arrived at Jalūlāʾ. He spoke of the gold and silver that Allah—exalted is He—had granted them there, and said, “Brother of Banū ʿAbs, do you not see that the One who has opened all this for us was aware of it while Muḥammad ﷺ was still alive?” I said, “Indeed.” He said, “By Him besides Whom there is no god, they would reach morning and evening and not one of them possessed a single dinar or dirham.”