Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 17781

Al-Hasan said: Sayyiduna Qays bin Asim (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he said: "This is the chief of the people of the desert." I said: "O Messenger of Allah! What is the wealth regarding which no liability falls upon me, whether from a guest or from dependants, however many they may be?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Good wealth is forty, and if it is more, then sixty; but woe to the owners of hundreds" (he said this three times; and then he said:) "except the one who gives in hardship and in ease, lends his mount to be ridden, lends his stud for mating, slaughters the fat animal, gives its milk as a gift, and feeds the content poor and the one who asks." The narrator said: I said: "O Messenger of Allah! How noble and how excellent these traits are!" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "How do you give the gift (of milch animals)?" I said: "Every year I give one hundred (animals) as a gift." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "How do you lend animals temporarily for riding?" I replied: "I do not lend the young milk-giving camel or the aged she-camel." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "How do you give animals for mating?" I replied: "My camels go out and the people go out, and whoever wishes takes hold of the head of whichever camel he wants and leads it away." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Is your own wealth dearer to you, or the wealth of your mawali (heirs)?" I replied: "No! Rather my own wealth (is dearer to me)." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Your share of your wealth is only what you eat and use up, or wear and wear out, or give (in the cause of Allah) and send ahead." The narrator said: I asked: "O Messenger of Allah! Is it so?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes!" So he said: "By Allah! If I remain alive, I shall surely reduce their number (that is, I shall surely spend my wealth in the cause of Allah)." Bazzar recorded it as a mursal report (with a missing link); he also recorded it as a connected report, but in a greatly abridged form, and this report is mentioned in the chapter on his virtues.