with his hand; and wherever he pointed, the locusts streamed toward that very spot.

It was also transmitted by ʿAlī ibn Zayd al-Farāʾiḍī, from Muḥammad ibn Kathīr, who said: “I heard al-Awzāʿī state that he was the one who actually witnessed it.”

Ibn Dhakwān said: Ibn Abī Sāʿib narrated to us, from his father; he said: “Al-Awzāʿī narrated to us, reporting that Makḥūl once exclaimed, ‘How eager Ibn Abī Mālik is for the judiciary!’ ” Al-Awzāʿī added, “He was indeed among those who helped set my opinion straight.”

Abū Zurʿah said: “He was offered the judgeship during the days of Yazīd an-Nāqiṣ (1), but he—meaning al-Awzāʿī—refused, agreeing to sit with them for only a single session.”

Al-Awzāʿī said: “Whoever remembers death often, a little suffices him; and whoever realizes that (2) his speech is part of his deeds, speaks little.”

Abū Yaʿqūb al-Adhraʿī said: Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ghamr al-Ṭabarānī narrated to us; Hāshim ibn Marthad narrated to us; I heard Aḥmad ibn al-Ghamr say:

“When the ordeal that befell al-Awzāʿī intensified—when ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAlī had entered Hama—he sent for him, and al-Awzāʿī was brought before him (3). Al-Awzāʿī lodged with Thawr ibn Yazīd al-Ḥimṣī.

“Al-Awzāʿī said: Thawr went on speaking about qadar (the divine decree) from after the final night prayer (ʿIshāʾ) until daybreak, while I remained silent—I did not respond with so much as a single word (4). When dawn broke, I prayed, then proceeded to Hama (5), where I was ushered in to ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAlī. He said, ‘O Awzāʿī! Does this gathering of ours count as…’”