English translation
4710. It was narrated that Ibn 'Abbâs said: "The first instance of Qasâmah during the Jâhiliyyah involved a man from Banu Hâshim who was employed by a man from Quraish, from another branch of the tribe. He went out with him, driving his camels, and another man from Banu Hâshim passed by them. The leather rope of that man's bag broke, so he said (to the hired worker): 'Help me by giving me a rope with which to tie the handle of my bag, lest the camels run away from me.' So he gave him a rope and he tied his bag with it. When they halted, all the camels' legs were hobbled except one camel. The one who had hired him said: 'Why is this camel, out of all of them, not hobbled?' He said: 'There is no rope for it.' He said: 'Where is its rope?' He said: 'A man from Banu Hâshim passed by and the leather rope of his bag had broken, and he asked me to help him; he said: "Help me by giving me a rope with which to tie the handle of my bag lest the camels run away from me, so I gave him a rope." He struck him with a stick, which led to his death. Then a man from Yemen passed by him (the man from Banu Hâshim, just before he died) and he (the Hâshimî man) said: 'Are you going to attend the Pilgrimage?' He said: 'I do not think I will attend it, but perhaps I will attend it.' He said: 'Will you convey a message from me once in your lifetime?' He said: 'Yes.' He said: 'If you attend the Pilgrimage, then call out, O family of Quraish! If they respond, then call out, O family of Hâshim! If they respond, then ask for Abû Tâlib, and tell him that so and so killed me for a rope.' Then the hired worker died. When the one who had hired him came, Abû Tâlib went to him and said: 'What happened to our companion?' He said: 'He fell sick and I took good care of him, but he died, so I stopped and buried him.' He said: 'He deserved that from you.' Some time passed, then the Yemeni man who had been asked to convey the message arrived at the time of the Pilgrimage. He said: 'O family of Quraish!' And they said: 'Here is Quraish.' He said: 'O family of Banu Hâshim!' They said: 'Here are Banu Hâshim.' He said: 'Where is Abû Tâlib?' He said: 'Here is Abû Tâlib.' He said: 'so and so asked me to convey a message to you, that so and so killed him for a camel's rope.' Abû Tâlib went to him and said: 'Choose one of three alternatives that we are offering you. If you wish, you may give us one hundred camels, because you killed our companion by mistake; or if you wish, fifty of your men may swear an oath that you did not kill him; or if you wish, we will kill you in retaliation.' He went to his people and told them about that, and they said: 'We will swear the oath.' Then a woman from Banu Hâshim, who was married to one of their men and had borne him a child, came to Abû Tâlib and said: 'O Abû Tâlib, I wish that my son, who is one of these fifty men, should be excused from having to take the oath.' So he excused him. Then one of the men came to him and said: 'O Abû Tâlib, you want fifty men to take the oath in lieu of one hundred camels, which means that each man may give two camels instead, so here are two camels; take them from me, and do not make me take the oath.' So he accepted them, and did not make him take the oath. Then forty-eight men came and took the oath." Ibn 'Abbâs said: "By the One in Whose hand is my soul, by the time a year had passed, none of those forty-eight men remained alive." (Sahîh)