Al-Awzaʿī narrated to us; al-Zuhrī narrated to us; Anas ibn Mālik narrated to me, saying:

While ʿUmar was sitting with his Companions he recited the verse, “and fruits and pastures” (Q 80:31). He then said, “We understand all of this, but what is al-abb?”

He had a little stick in his hand with which he was striking the ground, and he added, “By Allah, this is affected excess! People, hold fast to what has been made clear to you and act upon it; as for what you do not know, consign it to your Lord.”

Al-Khaṭīb said: Abū Ṭālib ibn Bukayr related it to me; Makhlad ibn Jaʿfar al-Daqqāq related it to us; Ibn Abī al-Dumayk narrated it to us.

Ahmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣaydalānī said: al-Marwazī narrated to us. I said to Abū ʿAbd Allāh, “ʿAlī is reporting it from al-Walīd …”—and he cited the ḥadīth—“ending with the words, ‘…so leave it to its Creator.’”

Abū ʿAbd Allāh replied, “That is false. Al-Walīd ibn Muslim narrated it to us twice, and the wording is only, ‘…so leave it to the One who knows it.’”

ʿAbbās al-ʿAnbarī said: I said to Ibn al-Madīnī, “They have taken exception to this from you.” He answered, “I narrated it to you in Baṣrah …,” and he stated that al-Walīd had erred in it.

Abū ʿAbd Allāh became angry and said, “Indeed! If he knew al-Walīd was mistaken, why did he transmit it to them—handing them the very error?”

Al-Marwazī said: I heard a man from the army say to Abū ʿAbd Allāh, “Ibn al-Madīnī sends you his greetings.” He fell silent. I then said to Abū ʿAbd Allāh, “ʿAbbās al-ʿAnbarī told me that ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī once named a man and criticised him, so I said to him, ‘They will not accept it from you; they will only accept it from Ahmad ibn Ḥanbal.’” He replied, “Ahmad could withstand the whip, whereas I cannot.”

Abū Bakr al-Jurjānī said: Abū al-ʿAynāʾ narrated to us: After everything that had happened in Ahmad’s trial had run its course, Ibn al-Madīnī went in to Ibn Abī Dāwūd. He handed him a slip of paper and said, “This was thrown into my house, and it reads:”