He said to him: “O Abdullah, by what means did you attain this state?” He replied: “By a small amount of virtue that I performed and a small amount of evil that I left. I held my soul back from desires, restrained my tongue from what did not concern me, undertook whatever my Creator called me to, and adhered to silence. If I swore by Allah, I fulfilled my oath; if I asked Him, He granted my request.” Ibn al-Jawzi also records this report in Dhamm al-Hawa, p. 21, and Ibn Rajab mentions it in Jami‘ al-‘Ulum wa al-Hikam, p. 116. He also said: “Abu al-‘Abbas al-Basri al-Azdī related to me from a sheikh of al-Azd that a man came to Wahb ibn Munabbih and asked, ‘Teach me something by which Allah will benefit me.’ He replied: ‘Increase the remembrance of death, shorten your hopes, and a third quality—if you attain it, you will reach the ultimate goal and secure the highest form of worship.’ The man asked, ‘And what is it?’ He said: ‘Tawakkul (reliance on God).’” Among those of prominence who passed away in this practice are: • Sulaiman ibn Sa‘d – See Al-Jarh wa al-Ta‘dil, 4:119; Ma‘rifat al-Thiqāt by al-‘Ajli, 1:429; Al-Thiqāt by Ibn Hibban, 6:389; Al-Isābah, 3:296; Al-Fihrist by Ibn al-Nadīm, p. 338. He was eloquent, learned in Arabic, and together with Salih ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Katib taught it. Salih died shortly after him; he was himself eloquent and an expert in diwan writing, from whom the students of Iraq learned this art. Sulaiman was appointed by al-Walīd ibn ‘Abd al-Malik to oversee the kharāj of Iraq. • Umm al-Hudhayl – See Tabaqāt Ibn Sa‘d, 8:484; Rijāl Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 2:854; Ma‘rifat al-Thiqāt by al-‘Ajli, 2:450; Tahdhīb al-Kamāl, 35:51; Siyar A‘lām al-Nubalā’, 4:507; Al-Kashif, 2:505; Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb, 12:438; Al-Isābah, 8:319. She narrated extensively, had read the Qur’ān by age twelve, was a jurist and scholar among the foremost women, and lived seventy years. • ‘A’isha bint Talhah ibn ‘Abdallāh al-Tamīmī – See Tabaqāt Ibn Sa‘d, 8:467; Al-Thiqāt by Ibn Hibban, 5:289; Ma‘rifat al-Thiqāt, 2:455; Rijāl Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 2:855; Rijāl Muslim, 2:424; Tahdhīb al-Kamāl, 35:237; Al-Kashif, 2:513; Siyar A‘lām al-Nubalā’, 4:369; Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, p. 750. Her mother was Umm Kulthūm bint Abī Bakr. She first married her cousin ‘Abdallāh ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn Abī Bakr; after his death she married Muṣ‘ab ibn al-Zubayr, who gifted her one hundred thousand dinars. She was renowned for her extraordinary beauty, the most beautiful of her era, and she died in Medina. • ‘Abdallāh ibn Sa‘īd ibn Jubayr – See Al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr, 5:103; Rijāl Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 1:407; Al-Ta‘dīl wa al-Tajrīḥ, 2:846; Tahdhīb al-Kamāl, 15:26; Al-Kashif, 1:558; Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, p. 305. He narrated extensively and was among the best of his contemporaries. • ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Abān ibn ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān – See Tabaqāt Ibn Sa‘d (supplement), p. 208; Tabaqāt Khalīfa, p. 259; Al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr, 5:254; Al-Jarh wa al-Ta‘dīl, 5:210; Al-Thiqāt by Ibn Hibban, 7:66; Ṣifat al-Ṣafwa, 2:148; Tahdhīb al-Kamāl, 16:492; Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb, 6:119; Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, p. 325. He transmitted extensively from a number of the Companions. (1) It is noted in the margin of manuscript Q: “That is, the regions situated on the coast of the land of Anatolia.”