What they said on the governor's justice and his distribution, whether little or much

Harun bin Antarah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: My father was a friend of Qanbar. He said: I went with Qanbar to Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). He said: "O Commander of the Faithful, get up and come with me! I have hidden something away for you." So he went with him to his house, and there was a basket full of bowls of gold and silver. He said: "O Commander of the Faithful, you leave nothing without distributing it or spending it." At that he drew his sword and said: "Woe to you! You wish to bring so great a fire into my house!" Then he struck across it with his sword, and they scattered, some vessels cut in half and some by a third. He said: "Call the overseers to me." They came, and he said: "Divide this wealth into shares." They did so, while he was saying: "O gold, O silver, deceive someone other than me!" He was also reciting this verse: 'Hadha janaya wa khiyaruhu fih, idh kullu janin yaduhu ila fih' (This is my harvest with its best still in it, when every harvester's hand goes to his own mouth). The narrator says: In the public treasury there were large and small needles, which he took from each people as their land tax (kharaj) from the work of their hands. He said to the overseers: "Divide these." They said: "We have no need of them." He said: "By the One in whose hand is my soul, we will surely divide this wealth, its good along with its bad."

Umm Uthman, who was the umm walad of Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), said: I came to Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) while a heap of cloves lay poured out before him in the courtyard. I said: "O Commander of the Faithful, give my daughter a necklace from these cloves." He said: "Like this," and he tapped with his hand, "hand me a dirham, for this is the wealth of the Muslims. Otherwise, be patient until our share of it comes, and then we will give your daughter a necklace."

Abu Salih (may Allah have mercy on him), who used to serve Sayyidah Umm Kulthum bint Ali (may Allah be pleased with her), said that Sayyidah Umm Kulthum (may Allah be pleased with her) said: O Abu Salih, how would you have felt had you seen the Commander of the Faithful when citrons were brought to him? Just then Sayyiduna al-Hasan (may Allah be pleased with him) or Sayyiduna al-Husayn (may Allah be pleased with him) went and took one citron from among them. He snatched that citron from his hand, and he gave the order, and those citrons were immediately distributed among the people!

Al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) said that a man asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) for a rein made of hair from the spoils of war. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He is asking me for a rein of fire. It is not fitting for you to ask me for this, nor is it fitting for me to give it to you."

Qays bin Abi Hazim al-Ahmasi (may Allah have mercy on him) said that a man came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) with a ball of hair from the spoils of war and said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), give it to me, for we are a household that works with hair." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "My share of it is yours."

Al-Abbas bin al-Fadl (may Allah have mercy on him) reports from his father that his grandfather Sayyiduna Abu Rafi (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I was the treasurer of Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). I adorned his daughter with a pearl from the treasury, which he recognised. When he saw it on her, he said: "Where did she get this from? Allah has surely made it binding on me to cut off her hand." He said: When I saw this, I said: "O Commander of the Faithful, I adorned my niece with it; otherwise how could she have obtained it?" When he saw this, he fell silent.

Abd al-Rahman bin Ajlan al-Burjumi (may Allah have mercy on him) said that his grandmother said: Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) used to distribute spices among us in pouches: a pouch of cumin and of cress, in such and such an amount.

Rabi' bin Hassan (may Allah have mercy on him) said that his mother said: Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) used to distribute turmeric and saffron among us.

He said: Once Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) entered the chamber and saw scattered grain. He began picking it up, saying: "You have eaten your fill, O family of Ali!"

Sa'id bin Ubayd (may Allah have mercy on him) reports from one of their shaykhs that pomegranates were brought to Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), and he distributed them among the people, and the people of our mosque received seven or eight pomegranates.

Isma'il bin Abi Khalid (may Allah have mercy on him) reports from his father that large jars of tila' (thickened grape syrup) from Ghabat were brought to Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), and he distributed them among the Muslims.

Abd al-Rahman bin Abi Bakrah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) took nothing from our public treasury, until he parted from us, except a padded cloak and a Darabjirdi khamisah (striped wrap).

Masruq (may Allah have mercy on him) said that Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: When Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) fell ill with the illness in which he died, he said: "Look at what has been added to my wealth since I became caliph, and send that wealth to the caliph who comes after me. I had considered it lawful for myself, and I used to gain from the fat (wadak) about as much as I used to gain in trade." Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: When he died, we looked, and there was a Nubian slave who used to carry the children and a water-drawing camel on which he used to draw water. They were both sent to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). She (may Allah be pleased with her) said: My agent informed me that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) wept and said: "May the mercy of Allah be upon Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). He has placed those who come after him in great hardship."

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."

Muharib bin Dithar (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 to us. A man among the people asked her: "Has the Commander of the Faithful had intercourse with you?" She said: "Indeed, I am not lawful for him." She meant that she was from the khums wealth. Just then Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) also came out and said: "Do you know how much of this fay' wealth I have considered lawful for myself? One mount on which I perform Hajj and Umrah, and two sets of clothes, a winter set and a summer set, and the provisions of Umar's household, equal to the provisions of the household of a man of Quraysh who is neither very wealthy nor very poor."

Harithah bin Mudarrib al-Abdi (may Allah have mercy on him) said that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Indeed, I have placed myself, with regard to the wealth of Allah, at the rank of the guardian of an orphan's wealth. If I am free of need of it, I abstain from it, and if I am in need of it, I eat from it in a fair manner."

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I passed by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) with some of the camels of charity. He (peace and blessings be upon him) took a little wool from the back of a camel and said: "Even the weight of this from your spoils of war is not lawful for me, except the khums, and that too is returned to you."

Nubayh (may Allah have mercy on him) said that Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) bought two camels and left them among the camels of charity. They both became very healthy and large, and their condition became very good. The narrator says: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) saw those camels and found their condition strange, and he asked: "Whose camels are these two?" The people answered: "They belong to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both)." He (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Sell them both and take your capital, and return the extra amount to the public treasury."

Abu Uthman (may Allah have mercy on him) said: When Sayyiduna Utbah (may Allah be pleased with him) came to Azerbaijan, a sweet dish (khabis) was brought to him. He tasted it and found it sweet. He said: "If you were to make some of this for the Commander of the Faithful, it would be very good." So they prepared two large baskets for him, then loaded them onto a camel and sent them with two men to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). When the two of them came to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), he asked: "What is this?" They said: "It is a sweet dish." He tasted it and also found it sweet and delicious. He asked: "Do all the Muslims eat their fill of this in their dwellings?" They answered: "No!" So he sent both baskets back, and then wrote to him: "To proceed: this is neither from your father's toil nor from your mother's toil. Feed the Muslims to their fill from the same thing that you fill yourself with in your dwelling."

Qays bin Abi Hazim (may Allah have mercy on him) said that Sayyiduna Utbah bin Farqad al-Sulami (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I brought large baskets full of a sweet dish (khabis) to Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him). I had never seen anything better. He asked: "What is this?" I said: "This is food I have brought for you, because you are a man who spends the first part of the day seeing to the people's needs, and when you return you can have some of it." He said: "Uncover a basket." The narrator says: I uncovered it. He said: "I adjure you, when you return, to provide every man among the Muslims with a basket of it." I said: "By the One who keeps you upright, O Commander of the Faithful! Even if I were to spend all the wealth of Banu Qays, it would not reach that amount." He said: "Then I have no need of it." Then he called for a bowl containing tharid of coarse bread and tough meat. He ate it with me with great relish. I reached for a white piece, thinking it was part of the hump, and when I chewed it, it turned out to be sinew. I took a piece of meat and chewed it, but it would not go down my throat. When he looked away from me for a moment, I placed the piece between the bowl and the dining mat. Then he said: "O Utbah, we slaughter a camel every day. Its fat and its best parts are for those Muslims who have come from distant regions, and its neck is for Umar!"

Zayd bin Wahb (may Allah have mercy on him) said that Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I passed by while the people were eating tharid and meat. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) invited me to his food, and he was eating coarse bread and oil. I said: "It was you who prevented me from eating tharid with the people, and it is you who invite me to this?" He said: "I invited you only to my own food; the food of the Muslims is that one."