165 – Abū ʿAbd Allāh Aḥmad ibn ʿAbdah al-Ḍabbī narrated to us; Ibn ʿUyaynah informed us, from Mujālid, from al-Shaʿbī, who said:

ʿAbd Allāh would come out to us while the people were already gathered at his door. He would say, “Whoever among you wishes to ask about a sunnah, let him step over there until we are free to give him our full attention. Whoever has come for disputation, let him take his opponent by the hand. And whoever has come to disclose to us a sin that Allah has covered, then let him veil his repentance just as he veiled the sin.”