“Are you really saying that?”
He replied, “To me it is more lawful than the water of the Euphrates.”
I said to him, “No one has ever disagreed about the permissibility of the Euphrates water, yet there is disagreement about this drink.”
And I added, “The man—may Allah forgive him—would not have spoken so had he not believed it to be lawful.”

Ibrāhīm ibn Shammās said, “If wishes were granted, I would wish for the intellect and godfearingness of Ibn al-Mubārak, the asceticism and tenderness of Ibn Fuḍayl, the devotion and prodigious memory of Wakīʿ, the humility of ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus, and the patience of Ḥusayn al-Juʿfī—he was patient, never married (1), and never entangled himself in any worldly pursuit.”

Some transmitters relate that Wakīʿ said: “al-Rashīd once said to me, ‘The people of your town have asked me to appoint a judge, and I have decided to share with you a portion of my trust and of my righteous deeds. Take your commission.’
“I answered, ‘Commander of the Faithful! I am an old man; one of my eyes is gone and the other is weak.’”

ʿAlī ibn Khushram said, “I never saw a book in Wakīʿ’s hand; everything was from memory. I asked him about medicines that strengthen the memory, and he said, ‘If I teach you the remedy, will you use it?’
“I replied, ‘Yes, by Allah.’
“He said, ‘Abandoning sins; I have never tried anything better for the memory.’”

Ṭāhir ibn Muḥammad al-Maṣṣīṣī said, “I heard Wakīʿ say, ‘If I knew…’”}