Al-Layth narrated from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, that he would speak only about what was plainly established in the Quran.

Shuʿbah narrated from ʿAmr ibn Murrah: A man once asked Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib about a verse of the Quran. He replied, “Do not ask me about the Quran; ask instead the one who claims that nothing in it is hidden from him”—meaning ʿIkrimah.

Ibn Shawdhab reported: Yazīd ibn Abī Yazīd told me, “We used to question Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib about what is lawful and unlawful, and he was the most knowledgeable of people. Yet whenever we asked him about the explanation of a Quranic verse, he would fall silent as though he had not heard.”

Ibn Jarīr said: Aḥmad ibn ʿAbdah al-Ḍabbī told us; Ḥammād ibn Zayd narrated to us from ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, who said, “I met the jurists of Medina and found that they spoke of Quranic exegesis with great reverence. Among them were Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh, al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad, Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, and Nāfiʿ.”

Abū ʿUbayd said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated to us from al-Layth, from Hishām ibn ʿUrwah, who said, “I never heard my father interpret a single verse of the Book of Allah.”

Ayyūb, Ibn ʿAwn, and Hishām al-Dastuwāʾī narrated from Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, who said, “I asked ʿUbaydah al-Salmānī about a verse of the Quran, and he replied, ‘Those who knew in what circumstances the Quran was revealed have passed away. So fear Allah and adhere to what is sound.’”

And Abū ʿUbayd said: Muʿādh narrated to us from Ibn ʿAwn, from ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Muslim ibn Yasār, from his father, who said, “When you report something from Allah, pause until you have considered what comes before it and what….”