concerning whom it was revealed and where it was revealed. If I knew where to find anyone more knowledgeable about the Book of Allah than I, whom I could reach on a mount, I would go to him.”

Al-A‘mash also reported from Abū Wā’il, from Ibn Mas‘ūd, who said:

“When one of us learned ten verses, he would not move beyond them until he understood their meanings and how to act upon them.”

Among them was the erudite scholar of boundless knowledge, ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abbās, the paternal cousin of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the interpreter of the Quran. This was through the blessing of the supplication that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, made for him when he said:

“O Allah, grant him understanding of the religion and teach him the interpretation of the Quran.”

Ibn Jarīr said: Muhammad ibn Bashshār narrated to us: Wakī‘ informed us: Sufyān informed us, from al-A‘mash, from Muslim, from Masrūq, who said: ‘Abd Allāh—meaning Ibn Mas‘ūd—said:

“What an excellent interpreter of the Quran Ibn ‘Abbās is!”

He then related it from Yahyā ibn Dāwūd, from Ishāq al-Azraq, from Sufyān, from al-A‘mash, from Muslim ibn Subayh, Abū al-Duhā, from Masrūq, from Ibn Mas‘ūd, who said:

“What an excellent interpreter of the Quran Ibn ‘Abbās is!”

He then related it likewise from Bundār, from Ja‘far ibn ‘Awn, from al-A‘mash, through the same chain. This is therefore an authentic chain of transmission establishing that Ibn Mas‘ūd said these words about Ibn ‘Abbās. According to the correct view, Ibn Mas‘ūd died in 33 AH, and Ibn ‘Abbās lived for thirty-six years after him. What, then, do you think of the knowledge he acquired after Ibn Mas‘ūd’s death?

Al-A‘mash reported from Abū Wā’il: ‘Alī appointed ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abbās to oversee the pilgrimage season in his stead. He addressed the people and recited Surah al-Baqarah in his sermon—and in