Malek ibn Dinar al-Sami was the son of a Persian slave from Sejestan (or Kabul) and became a disciple of Hasan of Basra. He is mentioned as a reliable traditionist, transmitting from such early authorities as Anas ibn Malek and Ibn Sirin. A noted early calligrapher of the Quran, he died c. 130 (748). 

How Malek-e Dinar came to be so named, and the story of his repentance – When Malek was born his father was a slave; yet though he was a slave’s son, he was free from bondage to both worlds. 

Some say that Malek-e Dinar once embarked in a ship. When the ship was far out to sea the mariners demanded, “Produce your fare!” “I do not have it,” he answered. They beat him till he was senseless. When he recovered, they shouted again. “Produce your fare!” “I do not have it,” he repeated. They beat him unconscious a second time. When he came to, they demanded a third time. “Produce your fare!” “I do not have it.” 

“Let us seize him by the feet and throw him overboard,” the sailors shouted. 

All the fish in the water at that moment put up their heads. Each one held two golden dinars in its mouth. Malek RA reached down his hand and, taking two dinars from one of the fish, gave it to them. Seeing this, the crew fell at his feet. He walked on the face of the waters and vanished. That is why he was called Malek-e Dinar. 

Now his conversion came about as follows. He was a very handsome man and fond of worldly things, and he possessed great wealth. He lived in Damascus, where Mu’awiya RA had built the Masjid, endowing it liberally. Malek RA was very eager to be appointed in charge of that Masjid. So he went and threw his prayer rug down in the corner of the Masjid, and there for a whole year continued in devotion, hoping that whoever saw him would find him at prayer. 

“What a hypocrite for you!” he would say to himself. 

A year passed in this way. By night he would leave the Masjid and take his amusement. One night he was enjoying music, and all his companions had fallen asleep. Suddenly a voice came from the lute he was playing. “Malek, what ails thee that thou repentest not?” 

Hearing these words, Malek RA dropped the instrument and ran to the Masjid in great confusion. 

“For a whole year I have worshipped Allah hypocritically,” he communed with himself. “Is it not better that I should worship Allah in sincerity? Yet I am ashamed. What am I to do? Even if they offer me this appointment, I will not accept it.” 

So he resolved, and he put his conscience right with Allah. 

That night he worshipped with a truthful heart. The next day people assembled as usual before the Masjid. “Why, there are cracks in the Masjid,” they exclaimed. “A superintendent ought to be appointed to keep it in order.” 

They reached the unanimous view that no one was better fitted for the post than Malek. So they came to him. He was at prayer, so they waited patiently until he was finished. 

“We have come to plead with you to accept this appointment,” they said. 

“O Allah,” cried Malek, “I served Thee hypocritically for a whole year, and no one looked at me. Now that I have given my heart to Thee and firmly resolved that I do not want the appointment, Thou hast sent twenty men to me to place this task on my neck. By Thy glory, I do not want it.” 

And he ran out of the Masjid and applied himself to the Lord’s work, taking up the life of austerity and discipline. So respected did he become, and of such excellence of life, that l when a certain wealthy citizen of Basra died, leaving behind a lovely daughter, the latter approached Thabet-e Binani. 

“I wish to become the wife of Malek,” she announced, “so that he may help me in the labour of obedience to Allah.” Thabet informed Malek. 

“I have divorced the world,” Malek replied. “This woman belongs to the world I have divorced. I cannot marry her.”