An Arab came to Medina and asked, “Who is the most generous person in the town?” People directed him to Imam Husayn (a.s).
He came to the Imam and recited three couplets in his praise. The Imam asked his servant how much of the money of Hijaz remained with him. The servant informed him that 4000 dinars were left. The Imam tied up all that money in a piece of cloth and told the servant to call the poet. When the poet arrived, the Imam handed the money to him from behind the door and in reply to his three couplets, the Imam himself recited three couplets that conveyed the following:
Take this and forgive me for this little amount but be assured that I am concerned about your condition. If the rulership had been in my hands you would have seen how the rain of our generosity rains. But times keep on changing. At present I do not have much.
Hearing all this, the Arab began to weep. The Imam asked him why he was crying, “Maybe you are unhappy at the paucity of what I gave you?” He said, “It is not so, but I am weeping because such a magnanimous personality has to lie beneath the dust one day.”
Reference :Akhlaq al-A’imma, Morals & Manners of the Holy Imams