with khabīs, a sweet pudding. Someone objected, “How could he even know what he has eaten?” He replied, “Yet Allah knows.” (1)

Al-Thawri narrated—from one of al-Rabiʿ’s maidservants—that whenever a visitor entered while the Qur’an lay in his lap, he would cover it. (2)

A daughter of al-Rabiʿ related: “I used to say, ‘Father, will you not sleep?’ and he would answer, ‘How can one sleep who fears being overtaken in the night?’” (3)

Al-Thawri narrated—from Abū Ḥayyān, from his father—that al-Rabiʿ ibn Khuthaym, though stricken with paralysis, would be led to the prayer. He was told, “You have been granted a concession.” He replied, “I hear the words, ‘Come to prayer’; if you are able, then come to it even if you have to crawl.”

It is also reported that he said, “I would not wish this affliction of mine on the most defiant Daylamite in his rebellion against Allah.” (4)

Sufyān al-Thawri said: He was once urged, “Why do you not seek treatment?” He responded, “I reflected on ʿĀd, Thamūd, the people of al-Rass, and the many generations between. They, too, suffered ailments and had physicians, yet neither healer nor patient has remained—every one of them has perished.” (5)

Al-Shaʿbi said: “Since the day he first girded himself with a waist-wrap, al-Rabiʿ has never sat in a gathering. He would say, ‘I fear that I might witness something blameworthy; I fear that I might fail to return a greeting; I fear that I might not lower my gaze.’” (6)