552 — ʿAbd al-Rahmān ibn Wāqid related to us: Damrah related to us: ʿAlī ibn Abī Hamalah related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Zakariyyā al-Dimashqī said, “For twenty years, I trained myself to remain silent about what did not concern me, yet I seldom managed it as I wished.” He would not allow anyone to engage in backbiting in his gathering, saying, “If you speak of Allah, we will help you; but if you speak about people, we will leave you.”