Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 35121 — What they said on the governor's

Ibn Sirin (may Allah have mercy on him) said that al-Ahnaf bin Qays (may Allah have mercy on him) said: We were sitting at the door of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) when a slave girl came out. We said to her: "Umar's concubine." She said: "I am not Umar's concubine, nor am I lawful for Umar. I am the wealth of Allah." The narrator says: Then we began discussing among ourselves what is lawful for Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) from the wealth of Allah. Word of this reached Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), so he sent a messenger and called us, and asked: "What were you talking about?" We said: "A slave girl came out to us, and we said to her: 'Umar's concubine.' She said that she is not Umar's concubine, nor is she lawful for Umar (may Allah be pleased with him); rather, she is the wealth of Allah. So we began discussing how much of the wealth of Allah is lawful for you (may Allah be pleased with him)." He said: "I will tell you how much of the wealth of Allah I consider lawful: a set of clothes for summer and for winter, the mount on which I perform Hajj and on which I perform Umrah, and my household's provisions equal to those of an ordinary man of Quraysh, neither like the wealthy of Quraysh nor like their poor. I too am a man from among the Muslims; the same needs that they have also befall me."