He is ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Bukht, Abū ʿUbaydah—some say Abū Bakr—the client of the household of Marwān, a Meccan who settled in Syria and then moved to Madinah. He transmitted hadith from Ibn ʿUmar, Anas, Abū Hurayrah, and a number of the Successors, and a great many scholars narrated from him, among them Ayyūb, Mālik ibn Anas, Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Anṣārī, and ʿUbayd Allah al-ʿUmarī.

His narration from Anas, raised to the Prophet, runs as follows:

“May Allah brighten the face of a man who hears these my words, commits them to memory, and then conveys them to another; for a carrier of understanding may pass it on to one who has deeper understanding than he. Three things against which the heart of a believer holds no rancor: sincerity in deeds for Allah, offering sincere counsel to those in authority, and adhering to the main body of the Muslims, for their supplication surrounds those who are behind them (1)(2).”

It is also related from Abū l-Zinād, from al-Aʿraj, from Abū Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “When one of you meets his brother, let him greet him with salām; and if a tree comes between them and then he meets him again, let him greet him once more.” (3)

Many leading Imams of learning declared ʿAbd al-Wahhāb reliable. Mālik said: “He performed numerous pilgrimages, ʿumrahs, and military campaigns until he was martyred, and he had no greater claim to what was in his saddlebag than any of his companions. He was generous and open-handed.” He was martyred in Byzantine territory alongside the commander Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allah al-Baṭṭāl and was buried there—may Allah have mercy on him. His death occurred in this very year, as reported by Khalīfah and others. He came upon the enemy while some Muslims had taken flight; he began calling out, spurring his horse toward the foe: “Come to Paradise! Alas, are you fleeing from Paradise? Where to? Woe unto you! There is no lasting abode for you in this world, nor any permanence!” He fought on until he was killed—may Allah have mercy on him.

Makḥūl al-Shāmī (4): a venerable Successor of high standing, the leading scholar of Syria in his day. He was the client of a woman from Hudhayl; it is also said he was the client of a woman from the family of Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ. Some say he was Nubian; others, that he was taken captive from Kabul; still others, that he belonged to the abnāʾ, descendants of the Sasanian kings. We have already discussed his lineage in our book al-Takmīl.

Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq said: I heard him say, “I traversed the whole earth in pursuit of knowledge.” (5)