Sa'id ibn Amir al-Jumahi

The Four Complaints of Hims

Sa’id ibn Amir al-Jumahi was a Qurayshi of Banu Jumah whom Umar appointed governor of Hims. The people of the city brought four complaints: he came out only at midday; he was unseen at night; one day each month he could not be found; and at times he would faint away. Umar summoned him, and Sa’id answered each:

• He had no servant, so he kneaded his own bread in the morning;
• He had set the nights aside for his Lord;
• One day a month he washed and dried his only set of clothes;
• And the unconsciousness — he had once seen Khubayb ibn Adiy executed in Makkah while he himself was still a disbeliever, unable to help; the memory still struck him from time to time. 1 Hayatus Sahaba · Vol 2 · pp. 172–174 — Kandhlawi — Sa'id answers the four complaints of Hims; his memory of Khubayb's martyrdom strikes him.

A Man Who Would Not Take More

When Umar sent him a thousand dinars and ten thousand dirhams, Sa’id refused them; only when Umar quoted to him the Prophet’s ﷺ teaching that unsought provision should not be refused did he take them — and he distributed every coin to widows, orphans, and the poor. 2 Hayatus Sahaba · Vol 2 · pp. 275–276 — Kandhlawi — Sa'id refuses the money until Umar cites the Prophet's words; he then gives it all to the needy. He died at Hims, still in office.