Al-Aʿmash narrated from Abū al-Ḍaḥḥā, from Masrūq, who said: ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿūd remarked, “Had Ibn ʿAbbas reached our age, not one person in ten among us would have equaled him.” He would also say, “What an excellent interpreter of the Quran Ibn ʿAbbas is.” (1)

Ibn ʿUmar likewise said, “Ibn ʿAbbas is the most knowledgeable of people concerning what Allah revealed to Muhammad ﷺ.”

Muhammad ibn Saʿd (2) relates: Muhammad ibn ʿUmar told us, Yahyā ibn al-ʿAlāʾ narrated to me, from Yaʿqūb ibn Zayd, from his father, who said: I heard Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allah say—when news of Ibn ʿAbbas’s death reached him, and he struck one hand against the other—“Today the most learned and the most forbearing of people has died, and this community has been afflicted with a wound that will never be stitched.”

By this same chain, Yahyā ibn al-ʿAlāʾ narrated from ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd Allah, from Abū Bakr ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr ibn Ḥazm, who said: When Ibn ʿAbbas died, Rāfiʿ ibn Khadīj declared, “Today the one upon whom people from East to West relied for knowledge has passed away.”

Al-Wāqidī said: Abū Bakr ibn Abī Sabrah told me, from ʿAmr ibn Abī ʿAmr, from ʿIkrimah, who said: I heard Muʿāwiyah say, “By Allah, your patron (3) is more versed in jurisprudence than anyone who has died or is alive.” (4)

Ibn ʿAsākir (5) reported: Ibn ʿAbbas said, “I entered upon Muʿāwiyah during the truce—the first time we met face to face—and people were with him. He said, ‘Welcome, O Ibn ʿAbbas. Of all those with whom discord has arisen between me and them, none has been dearer to me when distant nor more beloved to me when near. (6) Praise be to Allah who has caused ʿAli to die.’ I replied, ‘Allah is not to be reproached for His decree, and there are words better than these.’ Then I added, ‘I would prefer that you spare me my cousin, and I will spare you yours.’ He said, ‘That is granted to you.’”

ʿĀʾishah and Umm Salamah, when Ibn ʿAbbas led the people in pilgrimage, said, “He is the most knowledgeable of people regarding the rites of pilgrimage.” (7)

Ibn al-Mubārak transmitted, from Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind, from al-Shaʿbī: Zayd ibn Thābit was once mounted, and Ibn ʿAbbas took hold of his stirrup. Zayd said, “Do not do that, cousin of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” Ibn ʿAbbas replied, “We have been commanded to treat our scholars in this manner.” Zayd then said, “Show me your hands.” Ibn ʿAbbas extended them, and Zayd kissed them, saying, “And we have been commanded to treat the family of our Prophet in this manner.”