accustomed to narrating!’

He replied, ‘I was shown in a vision as though the Day of Resurrection had begun. A herald called for the people of knowledge; they rose, and I rose with them. Then a voice proclaimed concerning me: “Sit down.”

I pleaded, “My Lord, was I not a seeker?”

He answered, “Indeed you were, but they broadcast what they learned, whereas you concealed it.”

So I set about narrating.’

Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab al-Farrāʾ said, ‘I heard the people of Basra saying: “ʿAbd Allah ibn Maslamah is one of the abdal (the righteous substitutes).”’ (1)

Ismaʿil al-Qadi remarked, ‘Al-Qaʿnabī was one of those who exerted themselves in worship.’

Imam Ibn Khuzaymah said, ‘I heard Nasr ibn Marzuq state: “The most accurate transmitter of the Muwattaʾ is al-Qaʿnabī; after him comes ʿAbd Allah ibn Yusuf.”’ (2)

Ismaʿil al-Qadi also related, ‘Al-Qaʿnabī was not satisfied with Ḥabib’s recitation, and he persisted until he personally read the Muwattaʾ to Malik.’ (3)

Muhammad ibn Saʿd the scribe said, ‘Al-Qaʿnabī was devout and virtuous; he read Malik’s writings to him in person.’ (4)

Abu Bakr al-Shirazi records in his book Al-Alqab: ‘I heard Abu Ishaq al-Mustamli say, “I heard Ahmad ibn Munir al-Balkhi say, ‘I heard Hamdan ibn Sahl al-Balkhi, the jurist, declare: I have never seen anyone whose very presence made Allah—Exalted be He—remembered, except al-Qaʿnabī.’ ” ’