^{page 160 note 1} These words are taken from a tradition transmitted by Abū Hurairah, who says that the Prophet uttered them when consulted by a man who asked what kind of alms brought the greatest reward. The answer was: “The best alms is that which is given when thou art in sound health, desirous of holding fast thy property, fearing poverty and hoping for riches; and that thou put not off the giving until the time when thy soul has come up into thy throat, and thou sayest, ‘To such a one so much, to such another so much, and as for such a one, he has already had his share’” (i.e. the time of impending death, when the dying man makes his will): —Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ, Kitāb az-Zakāt, Bāb 11 (Krehl, i, p. 359; Qasṭallānī, iii, 21).

^{page 162 note 1} v.l.