The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, embraced Ibn ʿAbbās and prayed, “O Allah, teach him wisdom and the interpretation of the Book.” (1)

When Ibn ʿAbbās died, Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah said, “The rabbānī (godly scholar) of this community has passed away.” (2)

ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUtbah (3) said, “I have never seen anyone more knowledgeable of the Sunnah, more resolute in judgment, or more penetrating in insight—when he reflects—than Ibn ʿAbbās.” (4)

ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb used to tell him, “Intricate legal cases have arisen, and you are the man for them and for their like.” ʿUbayd Allah added, “And ʿUmar was truly ʿUmar—in his earnestness and in his sound judgment for the Muslims.” (5)

ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ said, “I have never seen a gathering more noble than that of Ibn ʿAbbās: richer in jurisprudence and more generous in hospitality. The jurists were with him, the Quran scholars were with him, and the poets were with him; he would send them all off satisfied, as though into an open valley.” (6)

ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb would consult him alongside the senior Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the Messenger of Allah had prayed that Allah increase him in knowledge and understanding. (7)