It is said that whenever ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb and ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān passed by al-ʿAbbās while they were mounted, they would both dismount out of respect for him.
Al-Wāqidī and others relate that al-ʿAbbās died on a Friday, twelve (1) nights having elapsed of the month of Rajab—others say of Ramaḍān—in the year 32 AH, at the age of eighty-eight. ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān offered the funeral prayer over him, and he was buried in al-Baqīʿ. Some report that he died in 33 AH, and others in 34 AH. His virtues and merits are exceedingly numerous.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd (2) ibn Ghāfil ibn Ḥabīb ibn Shamkh ibn Fār (3) ibn Makhzūm ibn Ṣāhila ibn Kāhil ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Tamīm (4) ibn Saʿd ibn Hudhayl ibn Mudrika ibn Ilyās ibn Muḍar al-Hudhalī, known as Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān (5), was an ally of Banū Zuhra. He embraced Islam early, before ʿUmar. The occasion of his conversion was that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ once passed by him together with Abū Bakr—may Allah be pleased with him—while he was tending a flock of sheep. They asked him for some milk, and he replied, “I am entrusted with them.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then took an ʿināq (6)—a young she-goat—upon which no male had yet mounted (7), restrained her, milked her, drank, and gave some to Abū Bakr. He then addressed the udder, saying, “iqliṣ (8)—shrink back,” and it did so. I said, “Teach me some of this supplication.” He replied, “innaka ghulāmun muʿallam (9)—you are a well-instructed youth.” The ḥadīth continues. (10)
Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq (11) narrated from Yaḥyā ibn ʿUrwah [through ʿUrwah] (12), from his father, that Ibn Masʿūd was the first person, after the Prophet ﷺ, to recite the Qur’an aloud in Mecca, at the Kaʿba, while Quraysh were gathered in their assemblies. He recited: “ar-Raḥmān (1) ʿallama’l-Qurʾān—‘The Most Merciful, taught the Qur’an’ (Surah ar-Raḥmān 55:1–2).” They rose against him and beat him. From the moment he accepted Islam he remained constantly in the company of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, carrying his sandals and his siwāk (tooth-stick). The Prophet said to him: “idhnu-ka ʿalayya an tasmaʿa sawādī (13)—you have permission to hear my private recitation.” For this reason he was called “the keeper of the siwāk and the screen.” (14)