The Generosity of Ibn Mubaarak

When the time for Hajj would come, ‘Abdullah ibn Mubaarak (may Allah have mercy on him) would gather his friends from Marw, and they would say to him, "We will accompany you." He would say to them, "Bring your expense money." He then would take expense money from them for the trip and place that money in a box, which he would then lock away.

He would take them to Baghdad and continue to spend on them, always feeding them the best of food and the best of sweets, then wearing the best of clothing, they would leave Baghdad until they would reach the city of the Messenger (Madinah). ‘Abdullah would say to each one of them, "Did your family not ask you to buy for them some of the merchandise of Al-Madinah?" When they reached Makkah, he would say to each one of them after the Hajj was over, "Did your family not ask you to buy for them from the merchandise of Makkah?" And ‘Abdullah would buy for them (his friends) whatever they wanted.

‘Abdullah would leave Makkah and he would continue to spend on them until they returned home. Then the doors of their homes would be polished, and after three days passed, ‘Abdullah would hold for his friends a banquet for which he prepared special clothes for each one of them, after eating and enjoying themselves, ‘Abdullah would call for the box of money.

‘Abdullah would open it, and give to each man from them his bag of spending money, upon which was written his name, and each person would find that nothing was missing from what they originally put in those bags."