Abū Hisham al-Rifāʿī said: I heard Wakiʿ declare, “Whoever claims that the Qur’an is created has, by that very claim, said that it is originated; and whoever says that the Qur’an is originated has committed disbelief.”

ʿAlī ibn ʿAththam related: When Wakiʿ fell ill we visited him, and he said, “Sufyān came to me and gave me the glad tidings that I shall be his neighbor, so I am hastening to him.”

Abū Hisham al-Rifāʿī also said: Wakiʿ died in 197 AH, on the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ, and was buried at Fayda—meaning on his way back from the pilgrimage.

Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal said: Wakiʿ performed the Ḥajj in 196 AH and died at Fayda.

I (the author) say: He lived sixty-eight years, lacking a month or two.

Qays ibn Unayf reported: I heard Yaḥyā ibn Jaʿfar al-Bikandī say: I heard ʿAbd al-Razzāq announce, “People of Khurāsān, the Imam of Khurāsān—meaning Wakiʿ—has just been reported to me as deceased.”

He went on, “That news weighed on us. Then he said, ‘Away with you, pack of dogs! Whenever you hear something from someone, you long for his death.’”

Abū al-Maʿālī Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Muʾayyad ibn ʿAlī al-Hamdānī, the ascetic, related to us—through my own recitation—saying: “Aḥmad ibn Abī al-Fath al-Daqqāq and Abū al-Faraj ibn ʿAbd al-Salām have informed you.”

Abū Ḥafṣ al-Ṭāʾī also transmitted to us, from Abū al-Yumn al-Kindī, who said: “Abū al-Faḍl Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar, the judge, informed us.”

Aḥmad ibn Hibat Allāh likewise related to us; ʿAbd al-Muʿizz ibn Muḥammad al-Harawī narrated to us; Yūsuf informed us—