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He further related, “I heard Mālik say, ‘It would not please me to own the finest people of Basra for the price of a single date-pit; and even if I had so much as a date-pit in Basra, what use would it be to me?’”
قَالَ: وَسَمِعْتُ مَالِكًا يَقُولُ: " مَا يَسُرُّنِي أَنَّ لِي أَحْسَنَ أَهْلِ الْبَصْرَةِ بِنَوَاةٍ، ثُمَّ نَوَاةٌ بِبَصْرَةٍ مَا أَصْنَعُ بِهَا؟