2197 – ʿAbd Allah narrated to us. He said, “I read it before my father.” ʿAbd al-Razzaq then related to us; al-Nuʿmān ibn al-Zubayr al-Ṣanʿānī informed us that Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf—or Ayyūb ibn Yaḥyā—had sent to Ṭāwūs a sum of either seven hundred dinars or five hundred dinars. He told the courier, “If he accepts it from you, the governor will clothe you and treat you generously.”

The man set off until he reached Ṭāwūs and said, “O Ṭāwūs, this is sustenance the governor has dispatched to you.” Ṭāwūs replied, “I have no need for it.” The messenger pressed him to take it, but Ṭāwūs refused; so the messenger flung the purse through a window in the house and left, then went back and told them, “He has accepted it.”

After some time, word reached the governor of something concerning Ṭāwūs that displeased them. The governor said, “Send for him and let him return our money.” The messenger came back to Ṭāwūs and said, “That money the governor sent to you…” Ṭāwūs answered, “I did not take a single coin of it.” The messenger returned and reported this, and they realized he was telling the truth. They said, “Find the man who carried it there and summon him.”

So the messenger said, “O Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, I am the one who brought it to you.” Ṭāwūs asked, “Did I take anything from you?” He replied, “No.” Ṭāwūs then asked, “Do you know where I put it?” He answered, “Yes—in that window.” He said, “Then look where I left it.” The man reached in, and there was the purse, with a spider’s web woven over it. He took it and brought it back to them.