he finds corroborating evidence for it; otherwise, he should ignore it.

Ishāq al-Asadī informed me; Yūsuf ibn Khalīl informed us; Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Taymī informed us; Abū ʿAlī informed us; Abū Nuʿaym narrated to us; Abū Shaykh narrated to us; the nephew of Saʿdān ibn Naṣr narrated to us; Ḥusayn ibn Mahdī narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Razzāq narrated to us, saying: Maʿmar reported, “I heard Qatādah say, ‘My ears have never heard anything without my heart retaining it.’”

And by this same chain to Abū Shaykh: Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim narrated to us; Hudbah narrated to us; Hammām narrated to us from Qatādah, who said, “Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib said to me, ‘I have never seen anyone who inquires about disputed matters more than you do.’ I replied, ‘Only a person of sound intelligence asks about such things.’”

Maʿmar also related: A man came to Ibn Sīrīn and said, “I saw in a dream as though a dove picked up a pearl and then scattered it evenly.” Ibn Sīrīn answered, “That is Qatādah. I have not seen anyone with a better memory than he.”

Matar al-Warrāq said, “Qatādah was a servant of knowledge.”

Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad reported: Shaybān narrated from Qatādah regarding the verse, “Only those of His servants who have knowledge fear Allah” (Q 35:28). He said, “Reverential awe is knowledge enough. Avoid breaking the covenant, for Allah has given it precedence, threatened regarding it, and mentioned it in several verses of the Quran as a forewarning, an admonition, and a proof against you. Beware of affectation, rigidity, excess, and self-admiration. Humble yourselves before Allah that He may raise you.”

Salām ibn Abī Muṭīʿ said, “Qatādah used to complete the Quran every seven days. When Ramadan arrived, he finished it every three days; and in the last ten nights he completed it each night.”

Salām ibn Miskīn, reporting from ʿImrān ibn ʿAbd Allāh, said: “Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib said to Qatādah, ‘I never imagined that Allah had created anyone like you.’”

Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal said, “Qatādah was learned in tafsīr and in the points of divergence among the scholars.” He then described him as a jurist and a memorizer, praising him at length and adding, “Seldom will you find anyone who surpasses him.”

Sufyān al-Thawrī said, “Was there ever anyone in the world like Qatādah?”

Imām Aḥmad also said, “Qatādah was the most retentive of all the people of Basra; he never heard anything except—”