I introduced myself to him, and he treated me with honor until, one day, he asked me, “Who are the shaykhs of Basra nowadays?”
I replied, “Yahya ibn Saʿid and ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi.”
He then said, “And what has become of ʿAbd Allah ibn Dawud al-Khuraybi?”
I answered, “He is alive and provided for.”
He remarked, “That is our early teacher.” (1)

Zayd ibn Akhzam said: I heard al-Khuraybi say, “A man’s favor to his child is to oblige him to pursue the study of hadith.”

He also said, “Religion is not in speculative discourse; religion is in the transmitted reports.” (2)

And concerning hadith he said, “Whoever seeks it for worldly gain will gain the world, and whoever seeks it for the Hereafter will gain the Hereafter.”

Muhammad ibn Yunus al-Kudaymi said: I heard ʿAbd Allah ibn Dawud say, “I have never lied except once. My father asked me, ‘Have you read to the teacher?’ I replied, ‘Yes,’ although I had not read to him.” (3)

Muhammad ibn Yahya adh-Dhuhli said: I asked al-Khuraybi about reliance on Allah (tawakkul). He said, “In my view, tawakkul is to think well of Allah.”

Al-Fallas narrated from al-Khuraybi that he said, “They used to prefer that a man have a secret portion of good deeds of which neither his wife nor anyone else is aware.” (4)

Zayd ibn Akhzam said: I heard ʿAbd Allah ibn Dawud say, “Whoever lets people have their way in everything they desire will find that they damage his religion and his worldly life.” (5)

ʿAbbas ad-Duri said: I said to Yahya, “People claim that the ruler sent money to ʿAbd Allah ibn Dawud, but he refused to accept it, saying, ‘It is from the charity funds.’”