of the statements of many of the Companions; while the first is the more knowledgeable of the reports of ʿAlī, Ibn Masʿūd, and a number of the Messenger’s Companions who lived in Kūfa. May Allah be pleased with both Imams. We have reached a time in which a man can scarcely speak with fairness—may Allah grant us safety.

Mutarrif ibn ʿAbd Allah and others said: Mālik’s signet ring—which was still on his hand when he died—had a black stone setting, and its inscription read: ḥasbiya llāhu wa niʿma l-wakīl (“Allah is sufficient for me, and He is the best Disposer of affairs”). He usually wore it on his left hand, though at times he put it on his right.

Ibn Mahdī said, “I have never seen anyone more awe-inspiring, more perfectly rational, or more God-fearing than Mālik.”

Ibn Wahb remarked, “What we absorbed of Mālik’s decorum is greater than what we learned of his knowledge.”

Mālik himself said, “I have never sat with a foolish person.”

Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related, “Mālik issued legal verdicts together with Nāfiʿ and Rabīʿa.”

Abū al-Walīd al-Bājī said, “It is reported that al-Manṣūr performed the pilgrimage and granted Mālik retribution against Jaʿfar ibn Sulaymān, who had struck him. Mālik refused, saying, ‘I seek refuge with Allah.’”

Muṣʿab ibn ʿAbd Allah composed these lines about Mālik:
“He withholds the answer, and none dare press him, out of awe—
while the questioners sit with chins lowered.
The dignity of composure and the radiant authority of piety—
he is held in reverence, though he wields no throne.” (1)

Abū ʿAbd Allah Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Būshanjī said: I heard ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Rammāḥ say, “I entered upon Mālik and said, ‘Abū ʿAbd Allah, what is in…’”