than a number of my own children—unless they were your equals in virtue. Indeed, I pray for you in the predawn hours.
Al-Dāraqutnī said, “Mālik ibn Dīnār is reliable, though scarcely any reliable narrator reports from him.”
Al-Sarī ibn Yaḥyā related that Mālik ibn Dīnār said, “An entire year may pass in which I eat no meat except what I take from my own sacrifice on the Day of Eid al-Aḍḥā.”
Sulaymān al-Taymī stated, “I never encountered anyone more ascetic than Mālik ibn Dīnār.”
Jaʿfar ibn Sulaymān narrated: “I heard Mālik say, ‘I wish that Allah would gather all created beings, permit me to prostrate before Him, and let me know that He is pleased with me—then say to me, ‘Be dust.’’”
Riyāḥ ibn ʿAmr al-Qaysī reported: “I heard Mālik ibn Dīnār say, ‘Jābir ibn Zayd once came in while I was writing and asked, “Mālik, is this your only occupation—copying the Book of Allah? By Allah, this is wholesome, lawful earnings.”’”
Shuʿbah said, “For a whole year the only relish Mālik ibn Dīnār used was two fals’ worth of salt.”
Jaʿfar ibn Sulaymān also said, “He would copy an entire muṣḥaf in four months, then leave his wages with the grocer and live from them.” He further related that Mālik would say, “If I could, I would never sleep, out of fear that punishment might descend. O people, the Fire! The Fire!”
Muʿallā al-Warrāq said, “I heard Mālik ibn Dīnār say, ‘I mixed my flour with ash, and it left me too weak for prayer.’”
Al-Sarī ibn Yaḥyā said, “Mālik ibn Dīnār died in 127 AH,” while Ibn al-Madīnī said, “Rather, it was in 130 AH.”
- Ṣafwān ibn Sulaym al-Qurashī al-Zuhrī al-Madanī (ʿ): an eminent imam, trustworthy narrator, hadith master, and jurist—Abū ʿAbd Allah, though some say Abū al-Hārith—the Qurashī,