from Kufa. So they sent word to ʿAbadān, and a group of companions arrived; he made his final bequests and then died (1).

His bier was brought out to the people of Basra unexpectedly, and the crowds attended his funeral. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abjar—a righteous man—led the prayer over him, and he and Khālid ibn al-Ḥārith went down into the grave.

Abū Hishām al-Rifāʿī narrated: Wakiʿ told us: “The governor ʿUmar ibn Ḥawshab entered upon Sufyān, greeted him, and Sufyān turned away. The governor said, ‘O Sufyān! By Allah, we are more beneficial to the people than you. We are the ones who pay blood-money, ransom captives, take care of people’s needs, and reconcile them with one another, whereas you are a man concerned only with yourself.’”

Sufyān then faced him and spoke with him, after which the governor rose and left. Sufyān remarked, “His entrance weighed on me, yet his departure saddened me.”

ʿAbd al-Razzaq said, “I have never seen anyone who preserved what he had memorized better than al-Thawrī.”

He was asked, “What kept you from travelling to al-Zuhrī?” He replied, “I did not have the dirhams.” (2)

Yaḥyā al-Qaṭṭān said, “Sufyān al-Thawrī is superior to Mālik in every respect.” Ibn al-Madīnī transmitted this from him.

Ibn Mahdī said: Sufyān told me, “If my books were with me, I would have imparted knowledge to you; my books are with an old woman at al-Nayl.”

Al-Kudaymī reported: Abū Ḥudhayfah told us: I heard Sufyān say, “We used to visit Abū Isḥāq al-Hamdānī, and around the neck of Israʾīl—meaning his grandson—there was a gold collar.”

Ibn al-Madīnī said: Ibn al-Mubārak used to say, “When these two agree on…"