The house of ʿAbd-al-Malik ibn-ʿUmair was used for entertaining guests, ʿUmar having ordered that some house be put to that use for those who came from the different provinces.
Charges against Saʿd. Al-ʿAbbâs ibn-Hishâm al-Kalbi from Muḥammad ibn-Isḥâḳ:—Saʿd ibn-abi-Waḳḳâṣ made a wooden door for his mansion which he surrounded with a fence of reeds. ʿUmar ibn-al-Khaṭṭâb sent Muḥammad ibn-Maslamah-l-Anṣâri who set fire to the door and fence, and made Saʿd leader in the mosques of al-Kûfah where nothing but good was spoken of him.
Al-ʿAbbâs ibn-al-Walîd an-Narsi and Ibrâhîm al-ʿAllâf al-Baṣri from Jâbir ibn-Samurah:—The people of al-Kûfah reported Saʿd ibn-abi-Waḳḳâṣ to ʿUmar on the ground that he did not lead properly in prayers. In answer to the charge, Saʿd said, "As for me, I have always followed the prayer of the Prophet and never deviated from it. In the first two [prostrations] I repeat prayer slowly, in the last two, quickly."[1] "That was what was thought of thee, abu-Isḥâḳ," said ʿUmar. ʿUmar then sent certain men to inquire in al-Kûfah regarding Saʿd, about whom nothing but good was told in the different mosques, until they came to the mosque of the banu-ʿAbs. Here someone called abu-Saʿdah said, "As for Saʿd, he does not divide shares equally, nor judge cases justly." Hearing this, Saʿd exclaimed, "O God, if he is telling a lie, make his age long, perpetuate his poverty, take away his eyesight and expose him to troubles!" ʿAbd-al-Malik said, "I later saw abu-Saʿdah intercepting the way of the maids in the streets; and when somebody asked him, 'How are you, abu-Saʿdah?' he always replied, 'I am old and crazed, being afflicted with the curse of Saʿd'."
- ↑ Bukhâri, vol. i, p. 195; Zamakhshari, Fâʾiḳ, vol. i, p. 212.
