I say: This story demonstrates ʿAffān’s standing and the esteem in which the authorities held him. Others were put to the test, chained, and imprisoned, whereas with ʿAffān they did nothing more than cut off his stipend.

Al-Qāsim ibn Abī Ṣāliḥ said: I heard Ibrāhīm ibn Dayzīl relate, “When ʿAffān was summoned for the inquisition, I was holding the bridle of his donkey. When he arrived, the doctrine was put before him and he refused to answer.

They said to him, ‘Your allowance will be suspended’—he used to receive one thousand dirhams each month—so he recited, ‘And in heaven is your provision and all that you are promised’ (Q 51:22).

When he returned home, his wives and the members of his household reproached him. There were about forty people in the house. Then someone knocked, and a man who looked to me like a grocer or an oil-seller came in carrying a purse with one thousand dirhams. He said, ‘Abū ʿUthmān, may Allah keep you firm just as you have upheld the religion. This will reach you every month.’ (1)

Hājib al-Ṭūsī: ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn Munīb told us that ʿAffān said, “So-and-so and I attended Ḥammād ibn Salamah for a full year without writing a single word. We asked him to dictate, and when we wore him out he invited us to his house and said, ‘Woe to you! You are bringing people down on me.’ (2) We replied, ‘We will write only what you dictate,’ so after that he dictated to us. (3)

Ibn Maʿīn said: ‘If Abū al-Walīd and ʿAffān differ in their report from Ḥammād, the statement of ʿAffān is to be followed; ʿAffān is more accurate than he and sharper in every respect. Abū al-Walīd is trustworthy and reliable, and ʿAffān…’