He also said, “Were a man to travel from the farthest reaches of al-Sham all the way to the furthest part of Yemen just to learn a single word that would benefit him in the remainder of his life, I would not regard his journey as wasted; but if he were to set out in pursuit of worldly gain or sensual pleasure—only as far as the threshold of this very mosque—I would judge his journey a punishment and a loss.

He further said, “Knowledge is more plentiful than the number of hairs, so from each matter take what is best.” (1)

Abu Burdah ibn Abi Musa al-Ashʿari (2): [He assumed the judgeship of Kūfa before al-Shaʿbi, for al-Shaʿbi was appointed during the caliphate of ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz and remained in office until his death. Abu Burdah, however, served as judge in the time of al-Hajjaj; al-Hajjaj later dismissed him and appointed his brother Abu Bakr in his place. Abu Burdah was a jurist, a ḥāfiẓ, and a scholar with numerous narrations.] (3)

Abu Qilabah al-Jarmi (4) [ʿAbd Allah ibn Zayd (5) al-Basri. He transmitted many reports from a large number of Companions and others, and he ranked among the foremost imams and jurists. When he was offered the judiciary he fled from it and went into exile; he travelled to Greater Syria, settled in Dariyya, and there he died—may Allah have mercy on him.

Abu Qilabah said, “When Allah grants you new knowledge, introduce for it a new act of worship. Let not your chief concern be what you will relate to people, for perhaps someone else will benefit and become self-sufficient while you remain stumbling in the darkness. In my view, these gatherings are nothing but the resting-place of the idle.”

He also said, “If something reaches you about your brother that you dislike, search for an excuse for him to the utmost of your ability. If you cannot find one, then say, ‘Perhaps my brother has an excuse I do not know.’”]