2581 – ʿAlī ibn ʿUmar also related to us; he said: Ismāʿīl ibn Muḥammad informed us; he said: ʿAbbās ibn Muḥammad narrated to us; he said: Khalaf ibn al-Walīd narrated to us; he said: al-Mubārak ibn Faḍāla narrated to us; he said: I heard al-Ḥasan say:

“I lived in the time of ʿUthmān while I had only just reached the threshold of puberty. I heard him delivering a sermon and I witnessed him saying, ‘People, what grievance have you against me?’

“Not a single day passes without some bounty being distributed among them. A herald calls out, ‘Community of Muslims, come early for your stipends,’ and they come out and take them in generous measure. Then, ‘Community of Muslims, come early for your clothing,’ whereupon robes are brought and divided among them.”

Al-Ḥasan said, “By Allah, these very ears of mine once heard the cry, ‘Community of Muslims, come early for butter and honey!’

“The enemy was kept at bay ⦗1439⦘, stipends and grants were in constant circulation, mutual relations were sound, and good was abundant. There was not a believer on earth who feared another believer. Whoever met any detachment of troops regarded its members as his brothers, his mentors, his companions, and his supporters—never as men against whom a sword should be drawn.”