Mu'jam Kabir Tabarani 15961 — I came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ

Sayyiduna Qays bin Asim al-Minqari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and when he saw me I heard him say: "This is the chief of the Arabs." He said: When we had settled, I came to him and began talking with him. I said: O Messenger of Allah, (how much is) the wealth for which I will not be held to account on account of a guest who stays with me or dependants who have grown many? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Forty camels is good wealth, and sixty at the most; and woe to the owners of two hundred, except one who gives of their milk and their use to people, lends his riding animals for others' service, slaughters the fat ones and feeds the one who asks and the needy." I said: O Prophet of Allah, how noble and how excellent these manners are! O Messenger of Allah, because of the great number of my camels, no one settles in the valley where I am. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "What do you do?" I said: The camels go out in the morning and the people go out in the morning, and whoever wishes takes hold of a camel's head and leads it away. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "What do you do about lending riding animals to others?" I said: I do not lend the young one or the old she-camel. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Is your own wealth dearer to you, or the wealth of your heirs?" I said: My own wealth is dearer to me than the wealth of my heirs. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Of your wealth, yours is only what you eat and consume, or wear and wear out, or give away and spend; other than that (what remains is not yours, it is for others)." I said: By Allah, if I remain alive, I will use it all up. Al-Hasan (al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him) said: By Allah, he did so. Then, when death came to Qays (may Allah be pleased with him), he said: "My sons, take counsel from me; no one is a better well-wisher to you than I: When I die, make your elders your chiefs, and do not make your young ones your chiefs, otherwise people will consider you foolish and you will become contemptible in their eyes. Hold fast to caring for wealth, for it rouses the noble and through it one is freed from need of the base. Beware of asking people, for it is the last resort of a man's earning; no one asks except that he abandons his earning. When I die, do not wail over me, for I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbid wailing. Shroud me in the clothes in which I used to pray and fast. And when you bury me, do not bury me in a place where anyone can find out about me, for there were wounds (enmities) between me and Bakr bin Wa'il in the Days of Ignorance, and I fear that they will dig me out of the grave and do something because of which both your religion and your worldly life will be ruined." Al-Hasan (may Allah have mercy on him) said: He was a well-wisher to them in life and a well-wisher to them in death.