A bedouin asked the people of Baṣrah , “Who is your leader?”

They replied, “Ḥasan al-Baṣrī.”

He asked, “Is he a descendant of slaves?”

They replied, “Yes.”

He asked, “How then did he become their leader?”

They said, “Because they are in need of his knowledge and he is not in need of their dunyā (worldly possessions).”

He replied, “This is real leadership.”

—From Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Bā‘ith al-Ḥathīth. Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah. 1994.

وسأل بعض الأعراب رجلاً من أهل البصرة، فقال: من هو سيِّد هذه البلدة؟ قال: الحسن بن أبي الحسن البصري، قال: أمولىً هو؟ قال: نعم، قال: فَبمَ سادهم؟ فقال: بحاجتهم إلى علمه وعدم احتياجه إلى دنياهم، فقال الأعرابي: هذا لعَمْر أبيك هو السؤدد..