Al-Walīd ibn Muslim reported: ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-ʿAlāʾ narrated to us, from ʿAṭiyyah ibn Qays, from Abū Idrīs al-Khawlānī:

Abū al-Dardāʾ (1) once set out for Madinah with a party of Damascenes. One day they recited before ʿUmar the verse, “When those who disbelieved fostered pride in their hearts, the pride of the Age of Ignorance” (al-Fath 48:26), adding, “Had you shown the same pride, the Sacred Mosque would have been ruined.”

ʿUmar asked, “Who taught you this reading?”

They replied, “Ubayy ibn Kaʿb.”

So he sent for Ubayy. When the latter arrived (2), ʿUmar said, “Recite.” They recited exactly as they had before.

Ubayy said, “By Allah, O ʿUmar, you know that I was present when they were absent, brought near while they were kept away, and treated in such-and-such a manner. By Allah, if you wish, I will remain in my house, narrating nothing and teaching no one until I die.”

ʿUmar replied, “O Allah, forgive! We know that Allah has placed knowledge with you; so teach the people what you have been taught.” (3)

Ibn ʿUyaynah reported—from ʿAmr, from Bajālah (or someone else)—who said:

“ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb passed by a youth reading in a codex: ‘The Prophet is nearer to the believers than they are to themselves, and his wives are their mothers—and he is a father to them’ (al-Aḥzāb 33:6). ʿUmar said, ‘Young man, erase that.’ The boy replied, ‘This is the muṣḥaf of Ubayy.’ ʿUmar then went to him and inquired, and Ubayy said, ‘The Quran kept me occupied, whereas buying and selling in the markets kept you occupied.’ (4)

ʿAwf reported—from al-Ḥasan—that ʿUtayy ibn Ḍamrah told him:

“I saw the people of Madinah …”