(1) He said: “I heard Ibn ‘Abbas say: I never heard anything objectionable from a brother of mine that I did not slot into one of three positions: if he was above me, I acknowledged his worth; if he was my equal, I gave him precedence; if he was below me, I paid him no heed. This is my standard for myself, and whoever dislikes it should know that Allah’s earth is vast.” (Narrated by Abu Nu‘aym in al-Hilya 4/85.) (2) Aban ibn Abi Rashid al-Qushayri said: “Whenever I prepared for the summer campaign (asifa), I would go to Maimun ibn Mihraṅ to bid him farewell, and he would not let me leave with more than two words: ‘Fear Allah, and let neither greed nor anger deceive you.’” (Same source; there it reads “nor let greed change you.”) (3) Abu al-Malīh, reporting from Maimun, said: “The scholars are my guides in every town, and they are my beloved in all of Egypt. I have found the true reform of my heart in keeping company with the scholars.” (Same source.) (4) Commenting on the verse “Indeed, the patient will be given their reward without measure” (Quran 39:10), he said: “In lofty chambers.” (Narrated by Abu Nu‘aym in al-Hilya 4/87.) (5) He said: “It is dearer to me to give a single dirham in charity during my lifetime than to give a hundred dirhams after my death.” (Same source.) (6) He said: “It was said that remembrance (dhikr) is twofold: the remembrance of Allah by the tongue, and better still is to remember Him when He has declared something lawful or forbidden, and at the brink of sin, so that you desist just as you were about to commit it.” (Same source.) (7) He said: “There are three matters in which the disbeliever and the believer stand alike: returning trusts to whoever entrusted them to you, whether Muslim or non-Muslim; being dutiful to one’s parents even if they are disbelievers; and fulfilling covenants with both believers and non-believers.” (Same source.) (8) Abu al-Malīh (in one variant: “Safwān from Khalaf ibn Ḥawshab from Maimun,” but the following reflects the authenticated chain) reported from Maimun: “I have never met anyone whose eyes were not filled with awe of his Lord when he looked up at the sky.” (Narrated by Abu Nu‘aym in al-Hilya 4/88; also by Ibn al-Jawzī in Sifat al-Safwa 4/194; and by al-Dhahabī in al-Siyar 5/77.) (9) Ahmad ibn Bazī‘ said: “Ya‘lā ibn ‘Ubayd told us, from Hārūn Abu Muhammad al-Barbarī, that ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz appointed Maimun ibn Mihraṅ over al-Jazīra—its judiciary and its kharāj. He remained for some time, then wrote to ‘Umar seeking dismissal, saying: ‘You have assigned me more than I can bear: passing judgment among people when I am an old, weak, delicate man.’ ‘Umar wrote back: ‘Collect the good from the kharāj and judge by what is clear to you; if a matter remains unclear, refer it to me. For if people abandon affairs that become too great for them, neither their religion nor their worldly life will prosper.’” (Narrated by Abu Nu‘aym in al-Hilya 4/88.) (10) Qutayba ibn Sa‘īd said: “Kathīr ibn Hishām told us, from Ja‘far ibn Burqān: I heard Maimun ibn Mihraṅ say: ‘When a servant commits a sin, a black spot is inscribed on his heart; if he repents, it is erased, and you see the believer’s heart bright like a mirror, and Satan cannot approach it without being seen. But the one who persists in sins accumulates black spots until his heart becomes entirely dark, so that he can no longer perceive from where Satan comes to him.’” (Narrated by Abu Nu‘aym in al-Hilya 4/89.) (11) Imam Ahmad said: “‘Ali ibn Thābit told us, from Ja‘far, from Maimun, who said: ‘How few are people’s own reflections! A man does not see his own state until he compares himself with others—what they were commanded, what they have devoted themselves to in this world—and thinks: “They are like beasts whose only concern is what they fill their bellies with.” But when he sees their heedlessness, he looks at himself and says: “By Allah, I would have appeared to myself the vilest of beasts.”’ Also on his authority: ‘No charity is better than a word of truth spoken before a tyrannical ruler.’” (Same source.) (12) He said: “Do not punish a slave or strike him for every fault; rather reserve correction for when he disobeys…” [text incomplete].