except Ibn ʿAwn and Ḥaywah ibn Shurayḥ.

Abū Dāwūd said, “I heard Abū ʿAwānah remark, ‘I travelled through Kūfa and met its scholars and people, yet I never saw the like of Ayyūb, Yūnus, and Ibn ʿAwn.’

ʿĀrim related: Ḥammād told us, saying, ‘Our jurists are Ayyūb, Yūnus, and Ibn ʿAwn.’

I (the author) say: These three are Basra’s shining stars in memorization, jurisprudence, worship, and excellence, and their fourth is Sulaymān al-Taymī—may Allah have mercy on him.

Yaḥyā ibn Yūsuf al-Dhimmī reported: I heard Abū al-Aḥwaṣ say, ‘Ibn ʿAwn was known as the foremost Qur’an reciter of his age.’

ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd said, ‘I asked Ibn Maʿīn about Ibn ʿAwn and he answered, “In every respect he is trustworthy.” ’

Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī narrated: Mufaḍḍal ibn Lāḥiq told me, ‘We were campaigning in Byzantine territory when a Roman combatant rode out, challenging us to single combat. A man advanced, killed him, and then slipped back among the ranks. I stayed close to him, trying to discover who he was, but he kept his helmet on. When he removed it and wiped his face, it turned out to be Ibn ʿAwn!’

ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Shaqīq related: Khārijah ibn Muṣʿab said, ‘I sat with Ibn ʿAwn for twenty years and never supposed that the two recording angels wrote against him any sin.’

ʿIṣām ibn Yūsuf transmitted a similar report from Khārijah, except that he said it was twelve years.

Muḥammad ibn Saʿd reported: Bakkār ibn Muḥammad told us, ‘Ibn ʿAwn appointed my father as his executor, and I accompanied him for a long time. I never heard him swear an oath—whether truthful or otherwise. He was pleasantly fragrant, wore soft garments, and longed to see the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, in a dream. He did not behold him until shortly before his death, and that filled him with immense joy. Afterward he descended the steps of his house to the mosque, slipped, and injured his leg. He continued treating it until he passed away—may Allah have mercy on him.’