Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 35133 — What the imam instructs governors

Aslam said: I saw that Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) appointed his freed slave Hunayy as governor over the reserved pasture. The narrator says: I heard him say to him: "Woe to you, O Hunayy! Be gentle with the people, and beware of the supplication of the oppressed, for the supplication of the oppressed is answered. Admit the owner of a small herd of camels and the owner of a small flock of sheep. And leave me out of the matter of the animals of Ibn Affan and Ibn Awf, for if the livestock of Ibn Awf and Ibn Affan were to perish, both of them would return to their date palms and crops in Madinah. But if the livestock of this poor man perishes, he will come to me crying out: 'O Commander of the Faithful! O Commander of the Faithful!' Water and fodder are easier for me than having to pay out gold and silver. By Allah! By Allah! By Allah! It is indeed their land, in the path of Allah. They fought for it in the Jahiliyyah and embraced Islam upon it in Islam. Were it not for these animals on which people are carried in the path of Allah, I would not have reserved any of their land from the people."