English Translation

Abu Sa'id, the freedman of Banu Hashim, told us, Dhayyal ibn 'Ubayd ibn Hanzala told us, he said: I heard Hanzala ibn Hidhyam, my grandfather, say that his grandfather Hanifa said to Hidhyam, "Gather my sons for me, for I wish to make a bequest." So he gathered them, and he said, "The first thing I bequeath is that this orphan of mine who is under my guardianship shall have a hundred camels, which we used to call in the pre-Islamic era 'the pledged ones.'" Hidhyam said, "O father, I have heard your sons saying, 'We only acknowledge this in front of our father; when he dies, we will go back on it.'" He said, "Then let the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, be the judge between me and you." Hidhyam said, "We agree." So Hidhyam and Hanifa set out, and Hanzala was with them, a young boy riding behind Hidhyam. When they came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, they greeted him, and the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, "What has brought you, O Abu Hidhyam?" He said, "This," and struck his hand on Hidhyam's thigh. He said, "I feared that old age or death would overtake me suddenly, so I wanted to make a bequest, and I said that the first thing I bequeath is that this orphan of mine who is under my guardianship shall have a hundred camels, which we used to call in the pre-Islamic era 'the pledged ones.'" The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, became angry, until we saw the anger in his face -- and he had been sitting -- so he knelt on his knees and said, "No, no, no! Charity is five, or else ten, or else fifteen, or else twenty, or else twenty-five, or else thirty, or else thirty-five, and if they increase, then forty." He said: So they left him, and with the orphan was a stick with which he was striking a camel. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, "This is a mighty stick for an orphan!" Hanzala said: Then he brought me close to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and said, "I have sons with beards, and some younger than that, and this is the youngest of them, so pray to Allah for him." So he wiped his head and said, "May Allah bless you," or "May he be blessed." Dhayyal said: I indeed saw Hanzala being brought a person with a swollen face, or an animal with a swollen udder, and he would spit on his hands and say "In the name of Allah," and place his hand on its head and say, "Upon the place of the palm of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him" -- and he would wipe it, and Dhayyal said, the swelling would go away.