Ibn Mahdī related: “I could never bring myself to look directly at Sufyān, out of modesty and awe for him.”

Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm al-Ḥunaynī said: “Al-Thawrī once told us—when he was asked about sleep—
‘The first time my soul falls asleep, I let it rest as long as it wishes; I do not restrain it. But once it wakes up, by Allah, I give it no further repose.’ (1)

Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAwn reported that he heard Yaḥyā al-Qaṭṭān say,
‘I have never seen a man better than Sufyān. Were it not for hadith, he would pray from the noon prayer until the afternoon prayer, and from sunset until the night prayer; but the moment he heard a hadith being reviewed, he would leave the prayer and come.’

Khalaf ibn Ismāʿīl said: “I said to Sufyān, ‘When you begin speaking about hadith you become lively and I scarcely recognize you, yet when you are occupied with anything else you seem like a dead man!’ He replied, ‘Do you not know that speech itself is a trial?’

Mahrān al-Rāzī said: “I saw al-Thawrī; whenever he took off his clothes he would fold them and say, ‘Once they are folded, their own life returns to them.’ ”

It is said that Sufyān and al-Fuḍayl (2) met together. They reviewed knowledge and wept. Sufyān said, “I hope this gathering of ours will prove the most blessed sitting we have ever attended.” Al-Fuḍayl replied, “I fear it may be the most ill-omened meeting we have ever had: did you not look for the best you possess and adorn yourself with it for me, and I did likewise for you? In so doing you have worshiped me and I have worshiped you!” Sufyān then wept until his sobs were audible and said, “You have brought me to life—may Allah grant you life.” (3)

Abū Saʿīd al-Ashajj reported: “I heard Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ḥārithī say, ‘Sufyān buried his books, and I helped him do so.’ (4) So I said, ‘O Abū ʿAbd Allah! Even buried treasure (rikāz) (5) is subject to one-fifth.’ ”