(1) Recorded by Maʿmar ibn Rāshid in al-Musannaf of ʿAbd al-Razzaq (vol. 11, p. 471, no. 21032), and also found in Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim’s al-Zuhd (p. 375), Abū Nuʿaym’s al-Ḥilya (4/14), and al-Mizzī’s Tahdhīb al-Kamāl (13/370). When Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik performed the pilgrimage, he said, “Bring me a jurist so that I may ask him about some of the rites.” The chamberlain went out in search of one and passed by Tawūs al-Yamanī. They said, “This is Tawūs al-Yamanī.” The chamberlain brought him in and commanded, “Answer the Commander of the Faithful.” Tawūs replied, “Forgive me.” He refused, so they led him in. Tawūs said, “When I stood before him I thought, ‘This station will be asked of me by God.’” Sulaymān said, “O Commander of the Faithful, there was once a rock on the brink of Hell that fell there for seventy autumns until it settled in its place. Do you know for whom God prepared it?” He answered, “No. Woe to you! For whom did God prepare it?” Tawūs replied, “For whoever God associates in His governance and proves unjust.” (Also narrated by Abū Nuʿaym in al-Ḥilya 4/15; al-Dhahabī in Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ (5/42); and Ibn Rajab in al-Takhwīf min al-Nār p. 91.) (2) In a version reported by al-Zuhri, Sulaymān saw a man circumambulating the Kaʿba, distinguished by beauty and dignity. He asked, “Who is this, O Zuhri?” I replied, “This is Tawūs, who met several Companions.” Sulaymān sent for him; when he arrived, Sulaymān said, “Won’t you relate something to us?” Tawūs replied, “Abū Mūsā narrated to me that the Messenger of God ﷺ said: ‘The easiest of all people before God on the Day of Judgment is one who was entrusted with Muslim affairs but did not deal justly with them.’” Sulaymān’s face changed; he lowered his gaze for a long while, then raised his head and said, “Will you not relate something else?” Tawūs continued, “A man among the Prophet’s Companions—ibn Ishāq said I thought he meant ʿAlī—narrated: The Messenger of God ﷺ invited him to a meal in a Quraysh gathering and said: ‘You have a right over Quraysh, and they have a right over the people: when they show mercy, they will be shown mercy; when they judge, they judge with equity; when they are entrusted, they fulfill the trust. Whoever fails in any of these, the curse of God, the angels, and all people is upon him, and God accepts neither excuse nor compensation from him.’” Again Sulaymān changed color, lowered his gaze long, then lifted his head and asked, “Will you not relate something else?” Tawūs said, “Ibn ʿAbbās narrated to me that the last verse revealed of the Book of God is: ‘And fear a Day when you will be returned to God. Then every soul will be paid what it earned, and they will not be wronged.’ (al-Baqarah 2:281).” (This longer version appears in Abū Nuʿaym’s al-Ḥilya 4/15–16.) (3) ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal said: “Abū Maʿmar narrated to me from Ibn ʿUyayna, from Ibrāhīm ibn Maysara, who related that ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz said to Tawūs, ‘Present your need to the Commander of the Faithful’—meaning Sulaymān. Tawūs replied, ‘I have no need of him.’ ʿUmar was astonished. Sufyān reported that Ibrāhīm swore facing the Kaʿba: ‘By the Lord of this House, I have never seen the noble and the lowly treated alike by anyone except Tawūs.’” (Reported by Abū Nuʿaym in al-Ḥilya 4/16.) (4) He also said: “A son of Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik came and sat beside Tawūs, but Tawūs did not look at him. Someone said, ‘The Commander of the Faithful is sitting next to you, yet you pay him no attention.’ Tawūs replied, ‘I wished for him and his father to know that there are servants of God who hold them and what they possess in contempt.’” (Abū Nuʿaym, al-Ḥilya 4/16.) (5) ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad also narrated from Ibn Tawūs: “We set out on pilgrimage and stopped in some villages. I feared my father would be harsh with the governors. In that village served an agent of Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf—brother of al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf—called Ayyūb ibn Yaḥyā (or, according to some, Ibn Nujayḥ), one of their most wicked and arrogant agents. We attended the dawn prayer in the mosque, and this Ibn Nujayḥ had been informed about Tawūs. He came and sat before Tawūs, greeted him, but received no reply. He spoke again, but Tawūs turned away. He moved to the other side, still ignored. Seeing this, I approached, took his hand, and said, ‘Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān did not recognize you.’ Tawūs said, ‘He knows me well.’ Then the ruler himself said, ‘He knows me well, and his recognition of me did what you witnessed.’ Tawūs then departed silently. When we entered the house, my father said, ‘O wretch! While declaring “I will ride out against them with the sword,” you could not hold your tongue.’” (Abū Nuʿaym, al-Ḥilya 4/16; al-Mizzī, Tahdhīb al-Kamāl 13/372.)