Hammad ibn Salamah—transmitting from Abu Sinan ʿIsa ibn Sinan—said, “I heard Wahb say:
‘I used to profess the doctrine of qadar, until I read some seventy-odd scriptures of the earlier prophets. In every single one of them it was written: “Whoever assigns to himself any share of the divine will has fallen into disbelief.” So I abandoned my former view.’ ⦗1⦘

Abu Usamah—via the same Abu Sinan—reported: I heard Wahb say to ʿAtaʾ al-Khurasani,
‘The scholars who preceded us were so enriched by their knowledge that they had no need for other people’s worldly goods, and therefore paid no attention to them. The people of the world, on the other hand, would gladly part with their wealth in order to gain that knowledge. Today the people of knowledge spend their learning on the worldly folk, coveting what they possess; and the worldly folk have now grown indifferent to their learning when they saw the low esteem in which scholars themselves held it.’ ⦗2⦘

He also said, ‘Commit three things to memory: beware of a passion that is followed, an evil companion, and a person’s self-admiration.’ ⦗3⦘

And he said, ‘Leave off wrangling and disputation, for no one escapes being one of two men: either he is more knowledgeable than you—so why show hostility and argue with someone superior to you?—or you are more knowledgeable than he is—so why show hostility and argue with someone beneath you who will not follow you?’ ⦗4⦘

Abu ʿAsim al-Nabil related to us—on the authority of Abu Salam—from Wahb ibn Munabbih, who said,
‘Knowledge is the believer’s intimate friend; forbearance is his vizier; reason is his guide; action is his overseer; patience is the commander of his troops; gentleness is his father; and leniency is his brother.’ ⦗5⦘

Wahb said, ‘The believer looks in order to learn, speaks in order to understand, remains silent in order to stay safe, and withdraws in seclusion in order to profit.’ ⦗6⦘