of a verse you must turn him away with, “Do not sit with us,” or, “Stand up,” or the like. Rather, they spoke so only out of their extreme diligence and scrupulous self-restraint.

Mālik reported, through Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, that whenever he was asked about the explanation of a verse of the Quran he would reply, “We do not say anything about the Quran.”

Al-Layth likewise narrated, through Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, that he would speak only about those passages of the Quran whose meaning was unquestionably known.

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

Ibn Shawdhab said: Yazīd ibn Abī Yazīd told me, “We used to ask Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib about what is lawful and unlawful, and he was the most knowledgeable of people in that regard. Yet when we questioned him about the interpretation of a verse of the Quran, he would fall silent as though he had not heard.”

Ibn Jarīr said: Aḥmad ibn ʿAbdah al-Ḍabbī narrated to me; Ḥammād ibn Zayd narrated to us; ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar said, “I met the jurists of Madinah, and they held speaking about Quranic exegesis in 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.”