ʿAbbās—unless someone were to say, “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said….”

Ṭāwūs said, “I encountered about five hundred Companions. Whenever they consulted Ibn ʿAbbās and disagreed with him, he would continue setting out his proofs until they came around to his opinion.”

Yazīd ibn al-Aṣamm related: “Muʿāwiya once set out for the pilgrimage with Ibn ʿAbbās. Muʿāwiya had his own cortege, and Ibn ʿAbbās had a cortege of students seeking knowledge.”

Al-Aʿmash narrated: Abū Wāʾil said, “Ibn ʿAbbās addressed us while he was the governor in charge of the pilgrimage season. He opened Sūrat al-Nūr, then began to recite and explain it. I kept saying to myself, ‘I have never seen nor heard speech like this. If Persia, Rome, and the Turks heard it, they would embrace Islam.’ (1)”

ʿĀṣim ibn Bahdala transmitted a similar report from Abū Wāʾil.

Juwaybir narrated from al-Ḍaḥḥāk, who said, “I never saw a house with more bread and meat than the house of Ibn ʿAbbās.”

Sulaym ibn Akhḍar reported from Sulaymān al-Taymī: “A messenger whom al-Ḥakam ibn Ayyūb sent to al-Ḥasan asked him, ‘Who was the first to gather the people in this mosque on the Day of ʿArafah?’ He replied, ‘The first to gather them was Ibn ʿAbbās.’”

Masrūq said, “Whenever I looked at Ibn ʿAbbās I would say, ‘The most handsome of people.’ When he spoke I would say, ‘The most eloquent of people.’ When he expounded knowledge I would say, ‘The most learned of people.’ (2)”

Al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad said, “I never heard anything frivolous in the assembly of Ibn ʿAbbās.”