Jami' al-Saghir / Jam' al-Jawami' (al-Suyuti) 2-2477b

Translation

Machine translation, not reviewed

"From Usamah ibn Zayd ibn Aslam, from his father, from his grandfather, who said: 'Umar ibn al-Khattab informed us, saying: I went out with some people from Quraysh on a trade journey to al-Sham in the Jahiliyyah. When we set out for Makkah, I forgot something I needed, so I returned and said to my companions: I will catch up with you. By Allah, I was in one of its markets when a patriarch came and seized my neck. I tried to pull away from him, but he took me into a church, where there was dirt piled up on top of one another. He handed me a shovel, a basket and a hoe, and said: Carry this dirt. So I sat thinking about my situation, how I should act. Then he came to me at midday and said: I have not seen you take anything out. Then he gathered his fingers and struck the middle of my head with them. I said: May your mother be bereft of you, O 'Umar! Has this reached you as I see it?! So I stood up with the shovel and struck his head with it, and his brain spilled out. I took it, buried it under the dirt, and then went out in my own direction, not knowing where I should go. I walked the rest of my day and my night, and the next day, until I reached a monastery and sheltered in its shade. A man from the people of the monastery came out to me and said: O servant of Allah! What has made you sit here? I said: I have become lost from my companions. He said: You are not on the road, and you are looking with the eye of a frightened man. Enter, eat some food, rest and sleep. So I entered, and he brought food, drink and kindness. He looked at me intently, then lowered his gaze and said: O man! The people of the Book know that there remains on the face of the earth no one more knowledgeable than me about the Book. I find your description, the one who will drive us out of this monastery and overcome this land. I said to him: O man! You have gone in a direction other than the right one. He said: What is your name? I said: 'Umar ibn al-Khattab. He said: By Allah, you are undoubtedly our companion. What is written for me about my monastery and what is in it? I said: O man! You have done a good deed, so do not spoil it. He said: Write me a document on parchment, in which there is nothing against you. If he is our companion, then it is what you want, and if it is the other one, it will not harm you. I said: Bring it, and I wrote it for him. Then I sealed it, and he called for a palm frond, gave it to me, along with garments and a female donkey with a wound. He said: Do you not hear? I said: Yes. He said: Ride out on her, for she will not pass by any people without them feeding her and giving her water, until you reach your refuge. Then strike her face while she is turned away, for she will not pass by any people without them feeding and watering her until she returns to me. So I mounted, and I did not pass by any people without them feeding and watering her, until I caught up with my companions, who were heading toward the Hijaz. I struck her face while she was turned away, then I continued with them. When 'Umar came to al-Sham during his caliphate, that monk brought him that document. When 'Umar saw it, he was amazed by it and said: Fulfil my condition for me. 'Umar said: Neither 'Umar nor the family of 'Umar has any claim to it, but with you is provision for the Muslims. Then 'Umar began to relate to us his story, while he was guiding them along the road, and you were sick, so we did that. He said: Yes, O Commander of the Faithful! So he fulfilled his condition for him."

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