Saʿīd ibn ʿUthmān ibn Zāʾida

ʿAmr ibn ʿĀṣim al-Marwazī related to us. He said: Muḥammad ibn al-Naḍr related to us. He said: Muḥammad ibn Ziyād related to us. He said: Saʿīd ibn ʿUthmān ibn Zāʾida informed us. He said: I heard ʿUthmān ibn Zāʾida say: I was with Abū Ḥanīfa, God have mercy on him, when a man asked him: “What do you say about drinking from a cup or goblet with silver on part of its sides?” He replied: “There is no harm in it.” The man went away. ʿUthmān said: I asked him: “Can you show us an example that bears witness to what you have said?” He replied: “Yes. What do you say about a man who passes a river, afflicted by thirst, with nothing to lift water from the river? He can scoop it up in his hands and drink, and he has a ring on his finger. He scoops up water and drinks with the ring on his hand: is there any harm in that?” I replied: “There is no harm in it.” He said: “What then?” ʿUthmān said: I have seen no man readier with an answer than he was.