—my neck; and had I died that day, the Fire would have been my lot.
He added, “At the time I was eleven years old.”
Another recension reads, “I was twenty-one years old,” which is the more plausible figure.
I (the author) say: His bringing a ram as alms and then fleeing from Khālid plainly points to his having lapsed into apostasy, after which Allah favored him with Islam once more. Do you not hear him declare, “Had I died that day, the Fire would have been my fate”? Clearly, Allah bestowed special care upon him.

Yazīd ibn Abī Ziyād transmitted from Abū Wāʾil: “I am older than Masrūq.”
Muḥammad ibn Fuḍayl related, through his father, from Abū Wāʾil that he learned the Quran in two months.
ʿAmr ibn Murrah said, “Who is the most knowledgeable person in Kūfa regarding the ḥadith of Ibn Masʿūd?” He answered, “Abū Wāʾil.”
Al-Aʿmash reported that Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī once told him, “Keep close to Shaqīq, for I met the people when they were still numerous, and they counted him among their finest.” (1)

Mughīrah narrated from Ibrāhīm—when Abū Wāʾil was mentioned in his presence—he said, “I am convinced he is one through whom calamity is repelled from us.”
He also said, “Indeed, he is better than I am.” (2)

ʿĀṣim ibn Abī al-Najūd said, “I never heard Abū Wāʾil curse a single human being, nor even an animal.”

Al-Thawrī, on the authority of his father, reported that he heard Abū Wāʾil asked, “Are you older, or is al-Rabīʿ ibn Khuthaym?” He replied, “I am older in years, but he surpasses me in understanding.” (3)