and by evening he contradicts it.

Rawḥ ibn ʿUbādah also transmitted, from ʿUthmān, something to the same effect.

Al-Qāsim ibn Maʿn reported: My father told me, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, who said: Ikrimah once narrated a ḥadīth, saying, “I heard Ibn ʿAbbās say such-and-such.” I said, “Boy, bring the inkwell and the parchment!” He asked, “Did it impress you?” I replied, “Yes.” He then said, “I only stated it according to my own opinion.” (1)

Abū Mushir, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, said: Khalid ibn Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah spoke about Ikrimah: “He is an excellent companion for a learned man, but a sorry companion for an ignorant one. The scholar will take from him only what he recognizes, whereas the ignorant man will take in everything he hears.”

Saʿīd added: “Ikrimah would relate a ḥadīth and then say to himself, ‘If it is indeed so.’ ”

Al-Naḍr ibn Shumayl related: Sālim Abū ʿAttāb al-Baṣrī told us: I was making ṭawāf with Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Muzanī when Bakr laughed. Someone asked him, “What makes you laugh?” He replied, “I am amazed at the people of Baṣrah: Ikrimah has narrated to them—on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās—regarding the permissibility of ṣarf (currency exchange). If Ikrimah has told them that Ibn ʿAbbās deemed it permissible, then I testify that Ikrimah has spoken the truth; yet I can produce fifty elders from among the Muhājirūn and the Anṣār who will testify that he repudiated it.” (2)

Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān narrated from his father: It was said to Ṭāwūs, “Ikrimah says: Let none of you restrain the urge to relieve himself—whether defecation or urination—while in prayer,” or words to that effect. Ṭāwūs replied, “Poor fellow! Had he limited himself to what he actually heard, he would indeed have possessed knowledge.”

I (the author) say: In this matter Ikrimah was correct, for a sound ḥadīth has been authenticated on the point (3)—that is, before