1691 – ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; al-Hasan ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz narrated to me; Abu Ayyub ibn Suwayd narrated to us; Muʿadh ibn Faḍālah narrated that ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz once halted before a rāhib (monk) in al-Jazirah who was living in a ṣawmaʿa (hermitage) where he had spent many long years. The monk was reputed to possess learning from the earlier scriptures. ʿAbd Allah dismounted to him—something no one had ever seen him do for anyone else—and said, “Do you know why I have come down to you?” He replied, “No.” He said, “Out of regard for your father.” The monk answered, “In our books we find him counted among the leaders of justice, holding the rank that Rajab occupies among the ashhur al-ḥurum (sacred months).” Ayyub ibn Suwayd then clarified the comparison, saying, “Three sacred months are consecutive—Dhu al-Qaʿdah, Dhu al-Ḥijjah, and Muharram: they correspond to Abu Bakr, ʿUmar, and ʿUthman. Rajab, however, stands alone.”