Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said, “Yazīd appointed al-Zuhrī as a judge alongside Sulaymān ibn Ḥabīb.”
Al-Walīd ibn Muslim narrated from al-Awzāʿī, from al-Zuhrī, who said, “Holding fast to the Sunna is deliverance.” Yūnus ibn Yazīd transmitted the same meaning from him.
Al-Awzāʿī also related from him that he said, “Let the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ pass just as they have come.”
Al-Layth reported from Jaʿfar ibn Rabīʿah:
I asked ʿIrāk ibn Mālik, “Who is the most learned among the people of Medina?”
He answered, “As for the one most versed in the rulings of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the verdicts of Abu Bakr, ʿUmar, and ʿUthmān, the most accomplished in jurisprudence, and the best informed about past affairs, that is Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib. As for the one with the greatest abundance of hadith, that is ʿUrwah. And if you wished to unleash an ocean of knowledge from ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh, you could do so. Yet, in my estimation, the most knowledgeable of them all is Ibn Shihāb, for he gathered all of their learning into his own.”
Al-Humaydī reported: Sufyān said:
It was said to al-Zuhrī, “If only you would take up residence in Medina and frequent the mosque and grave of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, the people would benefit from your knowledge.”
He replied, “It would not be proper for me to do that until I become detached from this world and eager for the Hereafter.”
Sufyān then remarked, “And who was the like of al-Zuhrī?”
I said, “May Allah have mercy on him; he was dignified, impressive in the dress of the soldiery, and held great stature under the Umayyad rule.”
Al-Awzāʿī narrated from al-Zuhrī that he said, “Knowledge is lost only through forgetfulness and abandoning review.”
ʿAbd al-Razzāq said: I heard ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar say:
“I wanted to pursue knowledge, so I would go to the elders of the household of ʿUmar and ask, ‘What have you heard from Sālim?’ Each time I went to one of them he would say, ‘You must consult Ibn Shihāb, for he used to keep close company with him.’ At that time Ibn Shihāb was in Syria, so I attached myself to Nāfiʿ, and Allah placed in that abundant good.”
ʿAnbasah narrated from Yūnus, from Ibn Shihāb, who said:
Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib once said to me, “No one who leaves behind someone like you is truly dead.”