838 • ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; Musʿab ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Zubayri narrated to us; Malik ibn Anas narrated to us, from Yahya ibn Saʿid:

Abu al-Darda wrote to Salman al-Farisi: “Come to the Sacred Land.”

Salman wrote back: “The land itself does not sanctify anyone; what sanctifies a person is his deeds. I have also been told that you have become a physician. If you truly bring about cures, then excellent for you. But if you are merely experimenting at medicine, beware lest you kill a human being and thereby be cast into the Fire.”

Whenever Abu al-Darda had judged between two litigants and they turned away, he would look after them and say, “By Allah, I am only a novice physician. Come back to me and restate your case.”