like watering holes: one watering hole that slakes the thirst of a single rider, another that suffices two riders, another that quenches ten (1), and yet another which, were all the people of the earth to alight there, would send them away fully satisfied—and ʿAbd Allah was of that latter sort (2).
In the Ṣaḥīḥ it is narrated from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—that he said: “While I was sleeping, a cup of milk was brought to me. I drank from it until I saw the coolness of satiation flowing out through my fingernails, then I passed what remained to ʿUmar.” They asked, “Messenger of Allah, how did you interpret that?” He replied, “As knowledge” (3).
ʿAbd Allah (4) also said, “I am inclined to think that ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb has taken away nine-tenths of all knowledge” (5).
He further said, “If the knowledge of ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb were placed on one side of a scale and the knowledge of all the people of the earth on the other, the knowledge of ʿUmar would outweigh them (6).”
Hudhayfah ibn al-Yamān said, “The knowledge people possess, compared with ʿUmar’s knowledge, is as though it had been tucked away in a hole (7).”
Al-Shaʿbī said, “The judges of this ummah are four: ʿUmar, ʿAlī, Zayd, and Abū Mūsā (8).”