'Abd al-Malik al-Maymuni informed me, saying: Abu Salamah narrated to us, saying: 'Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak narrated to us, from Ma'mar, from Hammam ibn Munabbih, who said: I heard Ibn 'Abbas saying: "I have not seen a man who was more befitting of kingship than Mu'awiyah. Indeed, people would come to him as one would approach a wide valley, and he was not like the narrow-minded, stingy, irritable, and angry man." I asked Ahmad ibn Yahya Tha'lab about the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas: "Mu'awiyah was not like the narrow-minded, stingy [man]," and he said: He manages affairs well. I said to Tha'lab: Could it be that he means he was not narrow-tempered? He said: It could apply to temperament and other things, but it is more commonly used in reference to wealth. I observed that what prevailed in Tha'lab's opinion was that he meant he manages affairs well.
