All of this (1) took place while he was still only in his early teens; yet the eminent scholars (2) were dazzled by the keenness of his intellect, the constant flow of his thoughts, the power of his memory, and the speed of his comprehension!

I was informed (3) that one of the learned shaykhs of Aleppo travelled to Damascus and said, “I have heard in my homeland of a boy called Ahmad (4) Ibn Taymiyya who is said to have an extraordinary gift for memorisation, and I have come deliberately in the hope of seeing him.” A tailor replied, “This is the road to his kuttab, and he has not yet passed; sit with us for a while and he will soon come by on his way to the kuttab.”

So the Aleppine shaykh sat for a short time, and presently some boys went by. The tailor said to him, “That (5) lad carrying the large tablet is Ahmad Ibn Taymiyya.” The shaykh called him over, and he came. The shaykh took the tablet and looked at it, then said, “My son, wipe this clean so that I may dictate something for you to write.” He did so, and the shaykh dictated to him eleven—or perhaps thirteen—core hadiths. Then he said, “Read this.” The boy did no more than glance at it (6) once after writing it down, then returned it and was told, “Recite it to me.” He recited it fluently, as perfectly as one could wish to hear.

The shaykh then said, “My son, wipe this again.” He did, and the shaykh dictated to him a number of carefully selected chains of transmission (7). He then said, “Read this,” and the boy looked at it just as he had the first time. The shaykh rose to his feet, exclaiming, “If this lad lives….”