Yahya ibn Ghaylan narrated: Abu ʿAwanah told us, from Qatadah, who said: “I came to Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib when he had been dressed in a coarse woollen loin-cloth and made to stand in the sun. I said to my guide, ‘Bring me nearer to him.’ He did so, and I began questioning him, afraid the opportunity might slip away, and he answered me solely for Allah’s sake, while the people looked on in astonishment. (1)

Abu al-Malih al-Raqqi said: More than one person informed me that ʿAbd al-Malik struck Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib with fifty lashes, set him on al-Harrah, and clothed him in a woollen loin-cloth. Saʿid said, “Had I known they would do no more than flog me, I would never have put it on; I only feared they would kill me, so I thought, ‘A loin-cloth conceals me better than nothing.’” (2)

Qabisah reported: Sufyan, from a man of the family of ʿUmar, said: I said to Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib, “Pray against the Umayyads.” He replied, “O Allah, strengthen Your religion, grant victory to Your friends, and disgrace Your enemies—while preserving the well-being of Muhammad’s community.” (3)

Abu ʿAsim al-Nabil, from Abu Yunus al-Qawi (4), said: “I entered the Mosque of Medina and found Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib sitting alone. I asked, ‘What is the matter with him?’ It was said, ‘No one has been allowed to sit with him.’ (5)

Hammam, from Qatadah, reported that whenever anyone wished to sit with Ibn al-Musayyib he would say, ‘They have flogged me and forbidden the people to sit with me.’ (6)

From Abu ʿIsa al-Khurasani, from Ibn al-Musayyib, who said: “Do not fill your eyes with the helpers of tyrants unless your hearts are denouncing them, lest your deeds be rendered void.”