ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī said, “In the whole of Iraq I never saw anyone more knowledgeable of the Sunnah than Ibn ʿAwn.”

Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī related, “A companion of mine narrated from Ibn ʿAwn that a man once asked him, ‘I notice some people discussing qadar (predestination); should I listen to them?’ He replied by reciting, ‘When you see those who plunge into vain discourse about Our revelations, turn away from them … until His words: … the wrongdoers’ (Qur’an 6:68).”

Muʿādh ibn Muʿādh said, “I have never met anyone who entertained greater hope for the Muslims than Ibn ʿAwn. Al-Ḥajjāj was mentioned in his presence while I was sitting there, and someone said to him, ‘They claim you ask forgiveness for him.’ He answered, ‘Why should I not seek forgiveness for al-Ḥajjāj just as I do for other people? What is there between him and me? I would not hesitate to pray for his forgiveness this very moment.’ ”

Ibn Saʿd reported from al-Anṣārī: “Hishām once narrated a tradition, whereupon a man asked him, ‘Who told it to you?’ He replied, ‘Someone the like of whom my eyes—by Allah—have never seen: ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAwn.’ ”

Bahīm (1) al-ʿIjlī transmitted on the authority of Abū Isḥāq al-Fazārī: “I heard al-Awzāʿī say, ‘When Ibn ʿAwn and al-Thawrī die, the people will all be on the same level.’ ”

ʿAlī ibn Bakkār narrated from Abū Isḥāq al-Fazārī that al-Awzāʿī said, “If I were given the choice to appoint someone to look after this ummah, I would choose none but Sufyān and Ibn ʿAwn.”

Abū Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī related from Shuʿbah: “I have never seen anyone like Ayyūb, Yūnus, and Ibn ʿAwn.”

Muʿādh transmitted from Shuʿbah: “I have not seen a single hadith scholar who did not practise tadlīs (concealing a weak link in transmission) except Ibn ʿAwn and ʿAmr ibn Murrah.”

Ibn al-Mubārak said, “I never met anyone of whom I had heard praise except that, when I finally saw him, he fell short of what had been reported…”