Al-Awzaʿī’s books at the time of the great tremor (1) filled thirteen qundāq (2). Later a man brought him their copies, saying, “Abū ʿAmr, here are the copies of your writings, with your own emendations in your own hand.” Yet he never so much as looked at a single one of them before he departed this world.

Bishr ibn Bakr al-Tinnīsī said: It was asked of al-Awzaʿī, “Abū ʿAmr, if a man hears a hadith from the Prophet ﷺ that contains faulty grammar, should he recite it in proper Arabic?” He replied, “Yes, for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ spoke only in pure Arabic.”

Al-Walīd ibn Muslim said: I heard al-Awzaʿī remark, “There is no harm in correcting slips of grammar and other mistakes in a hadith.” (3)

Mansūr ibn Abī Muzāḥim relates from Abū ʿUbayd Allah, the secretary of al-Manṣūr: “Letters from al-Awzaʿī would reach al-Manṣūr and leave us astonished; even his own secretaries were unable to match them. They would be copied into notebooks and placed before al-Manṣūr, who would pore over them repeatedly, admiring the elegance of their phrasing.

“He then said to Sulaymān ibn Mujālid—one of the scribes he held in highest favor—‘You should compose a complete reply to al-Awzaʿī’s letters.’

“Sulaymān answered, ‘By Allah, Commander of the Faithful, I am not equal to that task. All I can do is answer him in the limited way I know. His prose is such that I doubt anyone at all could match him in responding to it. In fact, I borrow his own expressions when writing to people in distant regions who are unfamiliar with them.’”