1238. ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; my father narrated to me; Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad narrated to us; Khalaf ibn Khalīfah al-Ashjaʿī narrated to us; Isḥāq al-Baṣrī narrated to us, from ʿAnbasah al-Khawwāṣ, who said:

When ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿĀmir arrived in Basra as its governor, he proclaimed, “O people of Basra, draw up for me—out of every five men—one man from among the qurrāʾ (Quran reciters) so that I may take counsel with them.”