A most notable story on justice with Umar ibn al-Khattab, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, and Anushirvan
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I have heard the following narration (I summarized it, and some parts may be paraphrased)
> While Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas was the governor of Damascus at the time of
> Umar ibn al-Khattab, he wanted to extend a mosque in Damascus. So
> he bought the lands around the mosque. A Jewish man, however, refused to
> sell his property. Finally, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas simply took the
> ownership of the land and had his men pay the Jewish man. There was
> nothing the Jewish man could do. One day, he told what happened to his
> Muslim neighbor. The neighbor told him to go to Medina, and find caliph
> Umar: “I am told that he is a most just ruler.”
>
> So the man goes to Medina, asks about Umar when he gets there, people
> point at a man under a tree. He goes to the man, introduces himself,
> and narrates what happened. Umar writes a note, and tells the man to
> give it to the governor of Damascus. The note says: **I am not any less
> just than Anushirvan .** The man looks at Umar, looks at the note,
> thanks him and leaves.
>
> When he arrives at Damascus, he is hesitant about what to do. A
> modest man gave him a one-line note which would hardly change
> anything. Still, he invested a lot in this matter already, so he goes
> to the governor, says he has seen caliph Umar, and gives him the note
> that Umar gave. As soon as he reads the note the governor's face pales,
> his hands starts to shake. He says: “consider your land is given to
> you.”
>
> The man so surprised that his curiosity about
> what the hell is happening overwhelms his joy of having his land back.
> He begs the governor: “Please, just tell how this note made change your
> mind in an instant!”
>
> The governor says, here is why. Before Islam, Umar and I went to Persia for trade. While we were in
> Persia, a group of gangsters came and took our camels and our money.
> There was nothing we could do; there were too many of them. Back at the
> inn we were staying, we told what happened to the inn-keeper. The
> inn-keeper told us to go to King Anushirvan, that he was a most just
> king. So we went to the king. We were given a translator. We told out
> story to the translator, the translator narrated the story to the
> king. The king ordered that we should each be given a bag of gold.
> Back at the inn, we told the inn-keeper what happened. The inn-keeper
> was slightly puzzled. He said there must be some misunderstanding:
> “Come, tomorrow we go together, and this time I will be your
> translator.”
>
> Next day, the three go to the King again. The inn-keeper narrates what
> happened. The King's face pales. He orders that two bag of golds shall
> be given to each of us, and our camels also. The king added: “when you
> are leaving the city, one you shall leave from the East entrance and
> the other from the West entrance.”
>
> We were of course most puzzled. Back at the inn, the inn-keeper told
> us the story. He said, when we narrated him what happened, he realized
> that gang was the gang of the king's son, and the king's second
> man. When he narrated the story to the king, he of course realized who
> was who.
>
> When I was leaving the city I saw to men hanged. There was a big crowd
> around them. I asked about them and someone said, these two are the
> son and the second man of the king, they robbed traders. There was
> another man hanged at the other entrance, he was the translator, who
> mistranslated our story so as to protect them. The king ordered the
> execution of his own son!
>
> Now you see what Umar means with his note. He is telling me that he will
> execute me just like the king executed his son.
>
> Upon hearing all this, the Jewish guy not only granted his land, but
> he also became a Muslim.
What is the strongest source of this narration?
Asked by blackened
(2004 rep)
Oct 11, 2020, 07:16 AM