of usury, if you are believers; but if you do not desist, then be warned of a war …” the verse (1). I stood there, stunned by this menace for a while, then returned to the beginning of the verse three times. When I reached it the third time, a tremendous rumbling from an earthquake struck. I was later informed that they counted some thirteen thousand funeral processions carried out the next day in Rayy.

Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Sulayman said: I heard Abu Zur‘ah say, “If I am ill for a month or two it shows in my memorization of the Qur’an, whereas with hadith, if you leave it for only a few days the deficiency becomes evident.”

Then Abu Zur‘ah said, “We observe some (2) of our companions who once wrote hadith but have stayed away from study circles for twenty years or less. When they sit today with the younger students, it is as though they neither know nor can competently handle hadith.”

He added, “Hadith is like the sun: if it is kept from rising in the east for five days, the traveler loses his bearings. This discipline therefore needs constant attention.”

Ibn Abi Hatim said: I heard Abu Zur‘ah say, “The choices made by Ahmad and Ishaq are dearer to me than the opinion of al-Shafi‘i, and I know of no one among our black-haired contemporaries more learned in jurisprudence than Ahmad.”

And I heard Abu Zur‘ah—when he was asked about the mursal reports of al-Thawri and those of Shu‘bah—reply, “Al-Thawri was lenient concerning transmitters, whereas Shu‘bah neither practised tadlis nor sent on narrations.”

He was asked, “Are Malik’s mursal reports more firmly established, or those of al-Awza‘i?”

He answered, “Malik hardly ever sends a report except from trustworthy men. Malik is extremely meticulous with the people of his own city; if he shows any leniency, it is only with strangers whom he does not know.”

Al-Hakim said: I heard Abu Hamid Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab