ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbd Allah would say, “Never have I heard a single ḥadīth and wished (1) to commit it to memory except that I retained it.”

This same Yaʿqūb also transmitted from al-Zuhrī, who said, “Whenever I desired to obtain from ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbd Allah some knowledge that I could not find elsewhere, I unfailingly discovered it with him.”

Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan—he is weak—reported from Mālik, from Ibn Shihāb, who said, “I used to serve ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbd Allah, even drawing brackish water for him. He would say to his maid-servant, ‘Who is at the door?’ and she would reply, ‘Your bleary-eyed boy.’ ”

Ishāq al-Ṣaffār informed us; Yūsuf ibn Khalīl informed us; Abū al-Makārim al-Taymī, Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥaddād, and Abū Nuʿaym likewise informed us; Sulaymān al-Ṭabarānī narrated to us; Jaʿfar ibn Sulaymān al-Nawfalī narrated; Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mundhir narrated; ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Mughīrah narrated, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī al-Zinād, from his father, who said:

“ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUtbah wrote to ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz:

In the name of the One from Whom the surahs were sent down…
All praise is due to Allah. To proceed, O ʿUmar:
If you know what you do and what you leave undone,
then stay on guard—for caution can indeed avail.
Be patient with the decreed destiny and content yourself with it,
even when that destiny brings what you dislike.
No one’s life remains forever pure and pleasing;
a day will surely come when its clearest hour is clouded.” (2)

Al-Zuhrī said, “ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbd Allah was an ocean among the oceans of knowledge.” (3)

Muḥammad ibn al-Ḍaḥḥāk al-Ḥizāmī related that Mālik said: “Ibn Shihāb used to come …”