The compiler of this book, may Allah be pleased with him, said: I heard some of the people of language say with regards to the meaning of wikar: It is said about food to which people are invited when a house is built or bought: wakeera, and wikar stems from it. The food that is made for the arrival (of someone) from travel, is called naqee’a. It is also called wikar. Rikaz refers to profit. It is as if he indicates that making food for the approaching from Mecca includes a profit to its maker of abundant reward, and from this meaning is the saying of the Prophet, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family: «Fasting during winter is the cold profit». The people of Iraq have said: rikaz applies to all metals. The people of Hijaz have said: rikaz refers exclusively to buried property from what has been saved by the sons of Adam before Islam. That is how it was mentioned by Abu Ubaida as well, and there is no saying except by Allah. We were informed of that by Abu’l-Hasan, Muhammed bin Harun al-Zanjani, among what he wrote to me, from Ali bin Abdul-Aziz, from Abu Ubaida, Qasem bin Salam.