for themselves.

He said, ‘By my life! Had you complied with me, I would certainly have decreed that.’ (1)

Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār reported: Ibn Miskīn and Muḥammad ibn Maslamah narrated to us, saying, ‘We heard Mālik recount his audience with al-Manṣūr and what the caliph said about copying his books and compelling the people to adopt them. I replied, “What the inhabitants of every land believe and practice has already taken deep root in their hearts, and turning the common folk away from this is difficult.”’

Al-Wāqidī said: ‘Mālik used to sit in his house upon cushions and pillows spread to the right and left throughout the room for whoever might come. His gathering was marked by dignity and forbearance; he was imposing and noble, and there was no disputation or idle clamor in his majlis. Strangers would ask him hadith after hadith, and at times he would permit some of them to read to him. He had a scribe named Ḥabīb who had copied his books and would read them to the assembly; if he erred, Mālik would correct him—though that was rare.’ (2)

Abū Zurʿah said: Abū Mus-hir narrated to us: Mālik told me, ‘Abū Jaʿfar said to me, “Abū ʿAbd Allāh, the people have gone; none remain but you and I.”’

Ibn Wahb narrated from Mālik: ‘I entered upon Abū Jaʿfar and saw more than one of the Banū Hāshim kissing his hand, but I was spared and did not kiss his hand.’ (3)

The Ordeal

Muḥammad ibn Jarīr said: ‘Mālik was beaten with whips, though the reason for that is disputed. Al-ʿAbbās ibn al-Walīd informed me—ibn Dhakwān narrated to us, from Marwān…’