Ṣāliḥ ibn Rustum al-Khazzāz narrated, on the authority of Ibn Abī Mulaykah:

“I accompanied Ibn ʿAbbās from Mecca to Medina. Whenever we stopped for the night he would rise and pray for half of it. Ayyūb once asked him, ‘How did he recite?’ He answered, ‘He would recite: “And the agony of death has come in truth—this is what you were trying to avoid” (Qāf 50:19); he chanted it deliberately, repeating it often (1) and breaking into heartfelt sobs (2).’

Ibn Jurayj also reported, from Ibn Abī Mulaykah:

Ibn ʿAbbās said, ‘The real people have gone; only the nasnās remain.’ He was asked, ‘What is nasnās?’ He replied, ‘Those who resemble human beings yet are not truly people (3).’

Ibn Ṭāwūs, from his father, narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās:

Muʿāwiyah said to me, ‘Are you on the creed of ʿAlī?’ I answered, ‘Nor on the creed of ʿUthmān; I am on the creed of the Messenger of Allah (4), peace and blessings be upon him.’

And Ṭāwūs said:

‘I have never seen anyone who revered Allah’s sacred limits more than Ibn ʿAbbās (5).’

Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim narrated, from Yaʿlá ibn Ḥakīm, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said:

‘When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away, I said to a man of the Anṣār, “Come, let us seek knowledge from the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, for they are many today.” He replied, “How astonishing of you, Ibn ʿAbbās! Do you imagine that people will need you while the Companions of the Prophet—upon him be blessings—are still among them?”’