and none of them recited it himself.
He then said, “Those men are the model to follow. Go to him and read before him.” So they did.

Qutaybah said: Maʿn narrated to us, from Mālik, who said:
“When Hārūn (al-Rashīd) came intending to perform Hajj, Yaʿqūb Abū Yūsuf was with him. Mālik went in to the Commander of the Faithful, who welcomed and honoured him. When Mālik had sat down, Abū Yūsuf turned toward him and asked him about a legal question, but he did not answer. He repeated the question, and again he remained silent; he asked a third time. Hārūn then said, ‘Abū ʿAbd Allāh, our judge Yaʿqūb is asking you.’
Mālik turned to him and said, ‘Sir, if ever you see me sitting with the people of falsehood, then come—and I will answer you along with them.’ (1)

As-Sarrāj reported: Qutaybah told us:
“Whenever we entered upon Mālik, he would come out to us well-groomed, his eyes lined with kohl, perfumed, wearing his finest clothes. He would take the head of the circle, call for fans, and hand each of us a fan.”

Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related: Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar told me:
“Mālik used to go to the mosque—attending the prescribed prayers, the Friday congregational prayer, and funeral prayers, visiting the sick, and sitting in the mosque so his companions could gather around him. Later he gave up sitting there; he would pray and leave. He stopped attending funerals, and then he abandoned all of that, including the Friday prayer. People accepted all this from him, and their desire for him only increased. When he was sometimes questioned about it, he would say, ‘Not everyone is able to voice the excuse he has.’ (2)