He dismounted...

He dismounted, and al-Rashid rose for him, received him, accompanied him to the end of the carpet, kissed his face and his eyes, took him by the hand, accompanied him to the beginning of the assembly, sat with him, talked with him, asked him about his conditions, and then he asked him: "'O Abū al-Hasan, what about your family?

Are all of them boys?' 'No, most of them are followers and retainers,' answered the Imām, 'As for my children, they are more than thirty.'" Then he mentioned the number of the males and of the females. Then Hārūn (al-Rashid) turned to him and asked him: "Why do you not marry your womenfolk to their cousins and their qualified ones?" "The hand falls short of that," replied the Imām. "What about your land?" asked Hārūn. "It sometimes produces and sometimes does not produce," answer the Imām.

"Are you in debt?" asked Hārūn. "Yes," replied the Imām. "How much is it?" asked Hārūn. "Ten thousand dinars," answered the Imām.

"O cousin," retorted Hārūn, "I will give you a sum of money in order to marry the males to the females, pay your debt, and reform your lands." The Imām thanked him for that and said to him: "You have tightened the bonds of kin, O cousin, and Allah has thanked this beautiful intention; the blood relationship is contiguous; kinship is close; the ancestry is one; al-'Abbās is the uncle of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family, and full brother of his father, the uncle of 'Ali b.

Abū Tālib, peace be on him, and full brother of his father; may Allah not make you far from doing that; for He has made you open-handed, made your element honorable, and made your origin high." "I will do that with pleasure," promised Hārūn.

Then the Imām advised him to show kindness to the poor in general, saying: "O Commander of the faithful, surely Allah has made it incumbent on the rulers to refresh the poor of the community, to pay (the debts ) on behalf of the debtors, to settle (the debts) on behalf of the over burdened, to clothe the naked, and to treat the worried with kindness, for you are appropriate for doing that." "I will do that, Abū al-Hasan," promised Hārūn.