2053 – ʿAbd Allah related to us; my father related to me; Abu Muʿāwiyah related to us; al-Aʿmash related to us, from Mālik ibn al-Ḥārith, from ʿAbd Allah ibn Rabiʿah, who said:

ʿUtbah ibn Farqad said to ʿAbd Allah ibn Rabiʿah, “O ʿAbd Allah, will you not lend me a hand with your nephew so that he can assist me in the duties I am charged with?” ʿAbd Allah then said, “O ʿAmr, obey your father.” He next glanced at Muʿḍad, who was sitting with them, and said, “Do not obey them; rather, prostrate and draw near.” (Why, then, did al-Aʿmash himself not prostrate?)

ʿAmr replied, “Father, I am only a servant working to ransom my own neck.” At this ʿUtbah wept and said, “My son, I love you with two loves: a love for Allah—may He be exalted—and the love a father has for his child.” ʿAmr said, “Father, you once brought me wealth amounting to seventy thousand. If you want it back, here it is—take it; but if not, allow me to dispose of it.” The narrator added: He allowed him to dispose of it until not a single dirham remained.