he departed, whereupon ʿAbd al-Malik exclaimed, “This—by your father—is real nobility; this—by your father—is true eminence!”

Muḥammad ibn Ḥumayd reported: Abū Tumaylah narrated to us, from Muṣʿab ibn Ḥayyān, the brother of Muqātil, who said:
“I was in the presence of ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ when he was asked about a matter. He answered, ‘I do not know—half of knowledge,’ and it is also said, ‘half of ignorance.’ ”

Al-Walīd al-Muwaqqarī (1) transmitted from al-Zuhrī:
“ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān said to me, ‘From where have you just arrived?’
I replied, ‘From Mecca.’
He asked, ‘Whom have you left as its leading figure?’
I said, ‘ʿAṭāʾ.’
He said, ‘Arab or one of the mawālī?’
I answered, ‘One of the mawālī.’
He asked, ‘By what has he attained leadership over them?’
I replied, ‘By piety and hadith transmission.’
He said, ‘People of piety and hadith deserve to be made leaders. Who, then, is the chief of the people of Yemen?’
I said, ‘Ṭāwūs.’
He asked, ‘Arab or mawla?’
I replied, ‘A mawla.’
He said, ‘Who is the leader of the people of Syria?’
I said, ‘Makhḥūl.’
He asked, ‘Arab or mawla?’
I replied, ‘A mawla—an emancipated Nubian slave freed by a woman of Hudhayl.’
He said, ‘Who leads the people of al-Jazīrah?’
I answered, ‘Maymūn ibn Mihrān—also a mawla.’
He asked, ‘Who leads the people of Khurāsān?’
I said, ‘Al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim, another mawla.’
He said, ‘Who leads the people of Baṣrah?’
I said, ‘Al-Ḥasan—one of the mawālī.’
He asked, ‘Who leads the people of Kūfah?’
I replied, ‘Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī.’
He said, ‘Arab or mawla?’
I replied, ‘An Arab.’
He exclaimed, ‘Woe to you! You have relieved me. By Allah, the mawālī will surely gain ascendancy over the Arabs in this land until the Friday sermons are delivered on their behalf from the pulpits while the Arabs sit below them!’
I said, ‘Commander of the Believers, it is a matter of religion: whoever safeguards it rises in rank, and whoever neglects it falls.’

This story is objectionable, and al-Walīd ibn Muḥammad is weak. It may be that the incident actually took place between al-Zuhrī and one of ʿAbd al-Malik’s sons. In another version it continues: ‘Who leads the people of Egypt?’ I said, ‘Yazīd ibn Abī …’