And he did so.Now when Othman succeeded to the Caliphate，he wrote a like letter to Abu Musa，who did his bidding and sent him the tribute accordingly，and with it came Ziyad.[275]And when Ziyad laid the tribute before Othman，the Caliph's son came in and took a dirham，whereupon Ziyad shed tears.Othman asked 'Why weepest thou？'and Ziyad answered，'I once brought Omar bin al-Khattab the like of this and his son took a dirham，where upon Omar bade snatch it from his hand.Now thy son hath taken of the tribute，yet I have seen none say aught to him or snatch the money from him.'Then Othman[276] cried，'And where wilt thou find the like of Omar？'Again Zayd bin Aslam relates of his father that he said，'I went out one night with Omar till we approached a blazing fire.Quoth Omar，'O Aslam，I think these must be travellers who are suffering from the cold.Come，let us join them.'So we walked on till we came to them and behold！we found a woman who had lighted a fire under a cauldron and by her side were two children，both a wailing.Said Omar，'Peace be with you，O folk of light （for it was repugnant to him to say 'folk of fire'），[277] what aileth you？'Said she，'The cold and the night trouble us.'He asked，'What aileth these little people that they weep？'and she answered，'They are hungry.' He enquired，'And what is in this cauldron？'and she replied，'It is what I quiet them withal，and Allah will question Omar bin al-Khattab of them，on the Day of Doom.' He said，'And what should Omar know of their case？' 'Why then，'rejoined she，'should he manage people's affairs and yet be unmindful of them？' Thereupon Omar turned to me （continned Aslam） and cried，'Come with us！'So we set off running till we reached the pay department of his treasury，where he took out a sack containing flour and a pot holding fat and said to me，'Load these on my back！' Quoth I，'O Commander of the Faithful，I will carry them for thee.' He rejoined，'Wilt thou bear my load for me on the Day of Resurrection？'So I put the things on his back，and we set off，running，till we threw down the sack hard by her.Then he took out some of the flour and put it in the cauldron；and，saying to the woman，'Leave it to me，' he began blowing the fire under the cauldron.Now he was a long bearded man[278] and I saw the smoke issuing from between the hairs of his beard till the flour was cooked，when he took some of the fat and threw it in and said to the woman，'Bed them while I cool it for them.'So they fell to eating till they had eaten their fill，and he left the rest with her.Then he turned to me and said，'O Aslam，I see it was indeed hunger made them weep；and I am glad I did not go away ere I found out the cause of the light I saw.'--And Shahrazad per ceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Sixty-fourth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that Nuzhat al-Zaman continued，'It is related that Omar passed by a flock of sheep，kept by a Mameluke，and asked him to sell him a sheep.He answered，'They are not mine.' 'Thou art the man I sought，'said Omar，and bought him and freed him；whereupon the slave exclaimed，'O Allah，as thou hast bestowed on me the lesser emancipation；so vouchsafe me the greater！'[279] It is also said that Omar bin al- Khattab was wont to give his servants sweet milk and himself eat coarse fare，and to clothe them softly and himself wear rough garments.He rendered unto all men their due，and exceeded in his giving to them.He once gave a man four thousand dirhams and added thereto a thousand，wherefore it was said to him，'Why dost thou not increase to thy son as thou increasest to this man？' He answered，'This man's father stood firm at the battle day of Ohod.'[280] Al-Hasan relates that Omar once came back from foray with much money，and that Hafsah[281] approached him and said，'O Commander of the Faithful，the due of kinship！' 'O Hafsah！' replied he，'verily Allah hath enjoined us to satisfy the dues of kinship，but not with the monies of the True Believers.Indeed，thou pleasest'thy family，but thou angerest thy father.' And she went away trailing her skirts.[282]The son of Omar said，'I implored the Lord to show me my father one year after his death，till at last I saw him wiping the sweat from his brow and asked him，'How is it with thee，O my father？' He answered，'But for my Lord's mercy thy father surely had perished.' Then said Nuzhat al-Zaman，'Hear，O auspicious King，the second division of the first chapter of the instances of the followers of the Apostle and other holy men.Saith Al Hasan al-Basri，[283] Not a soul of the sons of Adam goeth forth of the world without regretting three things，- failure to enjoy what he hath amassed，failure to compass what he hoped，failure to provide himself with sufficient viaticum for that hereto he goeth.[284] It was said of Sufyan，[285] 'Can a man be a religious and yet possess wealth？'He replied，'Yes，so he be patient when grieved and be thankful when he hath received.' Abdullah bin Shaddad，being about to die，sent for his son Mohammed and admonished him，saying，'O my son，I see the Summoner of Death summoning me，and so I charge thee to fear Allah both in public and private，to praise Allah and to be soothfastin thy speech，for such praise bringeth increase of prosperity，and piety in itself is the best of provision for the next world；even as saith one of the poets，'I see not happiness lies in gathering gold；The man most pious is man happiest：
In truth the fear of God is best of stores，And God shall make the pious choicely blest.'
Then quoth Nuzhat al-Zaman，'Let the King also give ear to these notes from the second section of the first chapter.' He asked her 'What be they？'and she answered，'When Omar bin Abd al-Aziz[286] succeeded to the Caliphate，he went to his household and laying hands on all that was in their hold，put it into the public treasury.So the Banu Umayyah flew for aid to his father's sister，Fatimah，daughter of Marwan，and she sent to him saying，'I must needs speak to thee.'
