Sunan Sa'id

It is narrated from Hazrat Qatadah, may Allah have mercy on him, that he transmitted a hadith with a chain of narration to Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, that he had a messenger who used to deliver messages between him and the king of Rome. The wife of Sayyiduna Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, borrowed a dinar from someone and bought perfume with it, filled it in bottles, and sent it through the messenger to the wife of the king of Rome. When the messenger arrived there, the king’s wife took out the perfume and filled the bottles with precious jewels and sent them back, saying: “Give these to the wife of the Commander of the Faithful, Umar.” When these bottles returned, Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, entered the house and saw the bottles and said: “O woman! What is this?” She replied: “I borrowed a dinar from such-and-such person, bought perfume, filled it in bottles, and sent it through the messenger to the wife of the king of Rome, so she sent these jewels.” Sayyiduna Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “O so-and-so! Take these, sell them, pay off the debt, and deposit the remaining wealth in the public treasury (Bayt al-Mal); the family of Umar is not more entitled to it than the Muslims.”