Al-Zuhrī was born in the year 58 AH, at the close of the caliphate of Muʿāwiyah. He was short of stature, sparse-bearded, with only a few long hairs and light whiskers along his cheeks.
They relate that he completed a reading of the Qur’an in roughly eighty-eight days, and that he kept the company of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib for eight full years, their knees touching as they sat together. He used to serve ʿAbd Allāh ⦗1⦘ ibn ʿAbd Allāh, drawing brackish water for him, and he would make the rounds of the hadith scholars carrying tablets on which he wrote down every report he heard from them. In this way he became one of the most learned men—indeed, the leading scholar of his age—and the people of his time came to depend upon him.
ʿAbd al-Razzāq said:
‘Muʿammar told us from al-Zuhrī who said: “We used to dislike putting knowledge into writing, but these rulers forced us to do so, so we resolved not to withhold it from any Muslim.”’ (2)
Ibn Isḥāq said:
‘When al-Zuhrī returned from ʿUrwah he would say to a slave-girl of his who had a speech defect, “ʿUrwah narrated to us, So-and-so narrated…,” and then recite to her everything he had just heard. She would reply, “By Allah, I have no idea what you are saying.” He would answer, “Be quiet, lakaʿ; I am not speaking to you—I am speaking to myself.”’ (3)
Thereafter he travelled to ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān in Damascus—as mentioned earlier—who honoured him, paid his debts, and assigned him a stipend from the public treasury. He was then counted among the caliph’s intimates and companions. The same favour continued with ʿAbd al-Malik’s sons al-Walīd and Sulaymān, with ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, and with Yazīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, who appointed him judge alongside Sulaymān ibn Ḥabīb. He was later held in special esteem by Hishām, performed Hajj with him, and was made tutor to Hishām’s children until he died in this very year, one year before Hishām himself.
Ibn Wahb said:
‘I heard al-Layth say: Ibn Shihāb declared, “I have never committed anything to my heart and then forgotten it.” He disliked eating apples or drinking water from which a mouse had drunk, saying that such things cause forgetfulness, whereas he would drink honey and say, “It sharpens the memory.”’ (4)
Fāʾid ibn Aqram composed the following verses in his praise:
Visit him and laud the noble Muḥammad,
Recall the favours he has shown his friends;
When men inquire, ‘Who is lavish with his wealth?’
They say, ‘The generous one is Muḥammad ibn Shihāb.’
The townspeople all acknowledge his station,
And the springtime of his court reaches the Bedouin;
He pays the price to keep his platters ever full,
With cuts taken from fine ribs and the cleaving of marrow. (5)