“When it comes to narrating from Nāfiʿ, ʿUbayd Allāh is dearer to me than Mālik.”

Abū Zurʿah and Abū Ḥātim both said: “He is reliable.”

Al-Nasāʾī added: “Trustworthy and firmly established.”

I (the author) say: Ibn Shihāb used to give Quraysh precedence over other people and even over their mawālī (clients).

Qaṭan ibn Ibrāhīm al-Nīsābūrī related from al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Walīd:
“We were with Mālik who told us: ‘We were once with al-Zuhrī, and in our company were ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar and Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq. Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq picked up the notebook and began to read. Al-Zuhrī said to him, ‘State your lineage.’ He replied, ‘I am Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq ibn Yasār.’ Al-Zuhrī said, ‘Put the book down.’

“Mālik then took the notebook. Al-Zuhrī said to him, ‘State your lineage.’ He replied, ‘I am Mālik ibn Anas al-Aṣbaḥī.’ Al-Zuhrī said, ‘Put the book down.’

“Then ʿUbayd Allāh picked it up. Al-Zuhrī said to him, ‘State your lineage.’ He answered, ‘I am ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar ibn Ḥafṣ ibn ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb.’ Al-Zuhrī said, ‘Read.’ Accordingly, everything the people of Medina heard that day came by way of ʿUbayd Allāh’s recitation.”

Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz narrated from ʿAbd al-Razzāq, who said:
“I heard ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar say: ‘When I reached maturity and resolved to seek knowledge, I began visiting the elders of the household of ʿUmar, one after another, asking each: “What have you heard from Sālim?” Every time I approached one of them he would reply, “You must go to Ibn Shihāb, for he kept close company with him.” But Ibn Shihāb was in Syria at the time, so I attached myself to Nāfiʿ, and Allah placed much good in that decision.’”

It is also reported from Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah that he said:
“ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar came to us in Kūfah, and the people gathered around him. He said, ‘You have disfigured knowledge and extinguished its light. Had ʿUmar met both us and you, he would have beaten us soundly!’”

Abū Bakr ibn Manjawayh said: “ʿUbayd Allāh was one of the nobles of Medina and the elite of Quraysh, distinguished for excellence, learning, devotion, nobility, powerful memory, and the consensus of the scholars.”

I add: His brother ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar stood in awe of him, revered him, and refrained from narrating while ʿUbayd Allāh was alive; he only began to transmit traditions after ʿUbayd Allāh had passed away.

Al-Haytham ibn ʿAdī said: “He died in 147 AH.”

Others held that he died in 145 AH, or one year earlier.