Abū Saʿīd told me; Abū Khālid al-Aḥmar narrated to us, from al-Aʿmash, who said:
“It has reached me that when a man sleeps on until daybreak—that is, he has offered no prayer (1)—Satan squats upon him and urinates in his ear. As for me, I think he defecated in my throat last night, for I have been coughing.”

Ṣāliḥ related to me; ʿAlī related to me; I heard Yaḥyā say:
“Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq once entered upon al-Aʿmash. People spoke to al-Aʿmash about him while we were sitting there. Then al-Aʿmash stepped outside, leaving him in the house. When he had gone, al-Aʿmash said, ‘I told him: Shaqīq.’ He answered, ‘Say: Abū Wāʾil.’ He also said, ‘Give me some of your hadith so I can take them to Madinah.’ I replied, ‘So my hadith has become mere provisions for the road!’
“ I used to visit Shaqīq ibn Salamah while his cousins were busy playing nard (backgammon) and shatranj (chess). He would say, ‘I heard Usāmah ibn Zayd, and I heard ʿAbd Allah,’ while they had no idea what we were talking about.”

Muḥammad ibn Yazīd al-Kūfī narrated to us; Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh informed us:
“Whenever al-Aʿmash had recited three hadiths he would say, ‘The flood has come upon you.’ ” Abū Bakr adds, “And I do the same as al-Aʿmash.”

He also said: “Al-Aʿmash narrated to me that Ibrāhīm once asked him, ‘Whom are you going to see today?’ I said, ‘Abū Wāʾil.’ He replied, ‘He used to be counted among the best companions of ʿAbd Allah (Ibn Masʿūd).’
“Abū Wāʾil said to me, ‘What keeps you from visiting us?’ I excused myself. He said, ‘It would not displease me in the least for you to come.’
“I then asked him, ‘What is the largest number of people you ever saw sitting with Ibrāhīm?’ He answered, ‘Three, four—sometimes only two.’ ”

Muḥammad ibn Yazīd also narrated to us; Abū Bakr (ibn ʿAyyāsh) informed us, from al-Aʿmash, who said:
“Mālik once went out to an estate of his for recreation. Rain began to fall, so he lifted his head and said, ‘If you do not stop, I will certainly harm you.’ The rain then ceased. Someone asked him, ‘What were you intending to do?’ He replied, ‘To leave no one who affirms His oneness alive without killing him.’ From that I realised that Allah protects His believing servant.”