Biography of Al-Hasan al-Basri (Al-Hasan ibn Abil-Hasan)

223 - Al-Hasan al-Basri, Abu Sa'id *

He is: Al-Hasan, son of Abu al-Hasan Yasar, Abu Sa'id, mawla (freedman) of Zayd ibn Thabit,

al-Ansari.

It is also said: mawla of Abu al-Yasar Ka'b ibn 'Amr al-Sulami.

This was said by 'Abd al-Salam ibn Mutahhar, from Ghadira bint Qarhad al-'Awfi.

Then he said: Al-Hasan's mother was a freedwoman of Umm Salama, the Mother of the Believers, of the Makhzum clan.

It is also said: he was the mawla of Jamil ibn Qutba.

His father Yasar was a captive from Maysan; he settled in Medina, was freed, and married her during the caliphate of 'Umar, and Al-Hasan (may Allah have mercy on him) was born to him from her when two years remained of 'Umar's caliphate.

His mother's name: Khayra.

Al-Hasan then grew up in Wadi al-Qura, attended the Friday prayer with 'Uthman, heard him deliver the sermon, and witnessed the Day of the House, being then fourteen years old.

Al-Hajjaj ibn Nusayr said: Al-Hasan al-Basri's mother was taken captive from Maysan while pregnant with him, and she gave birth to him in Medina.

Suwayd ibn Sa'id said: Abu Karib narrated to me, and he said:

Al-Hasan and Ibn Sirin were both mawlas of 'Abdullah ibn Rawaha, and they arrived in Basra with Anas.

I say: these two statements are anomalous.

Muhammad ibn Sallam said: Abu 'Amr al-Sha'bani narrated to us with his chain, and he said:

Umm Salama would send Al-Hasan's mother on errands, and when he cried as a child, Umm Salama would quiet him with her breast,

and would bring him out, while still small, to the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). His mother was devoted to her, and they would pray for him. She brought him out to 'Umar, who prayed for him and said: "O Allah, grant him understanding (fiqh) of the religion and make him beloved to the people."

I say: its chain is mursal.

Yunus: from Al-Hasan, from his mother: that she used to breastfeed for Umm Salama.

Al-Mada'ini said: Al-Hasan said:

My father and my mother belonged to a man of the Banu al-Najjar; he married a woman of the Banu Salama and gave my father and my mother as part of her dowry, and the Banu Salama woman freed us.

Yunus: from Al-Hasan: al-Hajjaj said to me: "How old are you, O Hasan?"

I said: two years of the caliphate of 'Umar.

He was the master of the people of his era in knowledge and in deeds.

Mu'tamir ibn Sulayman said: my father used to say: Al-Hasan is the elder of the people of Basra.

It is narrated that Umm Salama's breast flowed with milk for him, and that he suckled from her more than once.

He saw: 'Uthman, Talha, and the elders.

He narrated from: 'Imran ibn Husayn, al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba, 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Samura, Samura ibn Jundub, Abu Bakra al-Thaqafi, al-Nu'man ibn Bashir, Jabir, Jundub al-Bajali, Ibn 'Abbas, 'Amr ibn Taghlib, Ma'qil ibn Yasar, al-Aswad ibn Sari', Anas, and a great number of the Companions.

He recited the Quran under: Hittan ibn 'Abdullah al-Raqashi.

And he narrated from: a great number of the Followers.

And from him: Ayyub, Shayban the grammarian, Yunus ibn 'Ubayd, Ibn 'Awn, Humayd al-Tawil, Thabit al-Bunani, Malik ibn Dinar, Hisham ibn Hassan, Jarir ibn Hazim, al-Rabi' ibn Sabih, Yazid ibn Ibrahim al-Tustari, Mubarak ibn Fadala, Aban ibn Yazid al-'Attar, Qurra ibn Khalid, Hazm al-Quta'i, Sallam ibn Miskin, Shumayt ibn 'Ajlan, Salih Abu 'Amir al-Khazzaz, 'Abbad ibn Rashid, Abu Hariz 'Abdullah ibn al-Husayn, judge of Sijistan, Mu'awiya ibn 'Abd al-Karim al-Dal (the deviant), Wasil Abu Harra al-Raqashi, Hisham ibn Ziyad, Shabib ibn Shayba, Ash'ath ibn Biraz, Ash'ath ibn Jabir al-Huddani, Ash'ath ibn 'Abd al-Malik al-Humrani, Ash'ath ibn Sawwar, Abu al-Ashhab, and many others besides them.

He also narrated in mursal form from a number: such as 'Ali and Umm Salama, without having heard from either of them; nor from Abu Musa, nor Ibn Sari', nor 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr, nor 'Amr ibn Taghlib, nor 'Imran, nor Abu Barza, nor Usama ibn Zayd, nor Ibn 'Abbas, nor 'Uqba ibn 'Amir, nor Abu Tha'laba, nor Abu Bakra, nor Abu Hurayra, nor Jabir, nor Abu Sa'id.

This was said by Yahya ibn Ma'in.

Al-Bukhari said: no hearing of Al-Hasan from Daghfal is known.

Others said: he did not hear from Salama ibn al-Muhabbiq, nor from al-'Abbas, nor from Ubayy.

Ya'qub ibn al-Shayba said: I said to Ibn al-Madini: it is said from Al-Hasan: I grasped

by the waist seventy men of Badr.

He said: this is false; I counted the men of Badr from whom (hadiths) are narrated, and they did not reach fifty, of whom twenty-four were Emigrants.

Shu'ayb ibn al-Habhab said from him: I saw 'Uthman being poured upon from a jug.

Yahya al-Qattan said: his hadiths from Samura, we heard that they are from a written record.

I say: his hearing is established in the hadith of the 'aqiqa, and in the hadith from Samura prohibiting mutilation (muthla).

Qatada said: Al-Hasan never heard a man of Badr in hadith face to face.

Yahya al-Qattan said, concerning the hadiths of Samura narrated by Al-Hasan: we heard that they are from the book of Ma'n al-Qazzaz.

Muhammad ibn 'Amr narrated to us: I heard Al-Hasan say:

"I heard Abu Hurayra say: ablution (wudu') is among that which the Fire alters."

Al-Hasan said: I will never abandon it.

Muslim: Abu Hilal narrated to us: I heard Al-Hasan say:

"Musa, a prophet of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), would only bathe in privacy."

Ibn Burayda said to him: from whom did you hear this?

He said: from Abu Hurayra.

Yunus and 'Ali ibn Jud'an said: Al-Hasan did not hear from Abu Hurayra.

Hammam: from Qatada, from Al-Hasan:

"I heard 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) say in his sermon (I think he said): kill the dogs and the pigeons."

Shu'ayb ibn al-Habhab: from Al-Hasan:

"I witnessed 'Uthman one Friday when (pigeons) were being sold, ordering pigeons to be slaughtered and dogs to be killed."

'Affan: Mubarak ibn Fadala and another narrated to us, from Al-Hasan, something similar.

Bahz ibn Asad: 'Abd al-Wahid ibn Ziyad narrated to us, from Yunus, from Al-Hasan, who said:

"I saw 'Uthman sleeping in the mosque until the muezzin came to him; he got up, and I saw the marks of the pebbles on his side."

Hammad ibn Zayd: from Ayyub: I heard Al-Hasan say:

"'Uthman came out to us; there was a scuffle among them, and they pelted one another with gravel."

And from Abu Musa, from Al-Hasan, who said:

I witnessed 'Uthman one Friday as he stood up to deliver the sermon; a man rose to him and said: "I adjure you by the Book of Allah."

'Uthman said: "sit down; does the Book of Allah have no other petitioner than you?!"

He said: so he sat down, then stood up again (or another man stood up) and said the like of his words, and he said to him: "sit down; does the Book of Allah have no other petitioner than you."

He refused to sit, so the guards (shurta) were sent to make him sit. The people stood up, intervened between them, then they pelted one another with pebbles until one would say: I can hardly see the sky through the pebbles.

He then came down from his minbar, entered his house, and did not pray the Friday prayer that day.

Muslim: Abu 'Aqil narrated to us: Al-Hasan narrated to us, and he said:

"'Uthman came out and stood to deliver the sermon ...", then he mentioned part of the account of Abu Musa.

Sulaym ibn Akhdar: from Ibn 'Awn: Al-Hasan informed us, and he said:

"'Uthman was delivering the sermon one day; a man stood up and said: we ask you for the Book of Allah ...", then he mentioned something similar.

They pelted him with pebbles; those who had pelted him were pelted in turn, then (by Allah) the people pelted one another, and the old man was brought down, guided between two men, hardly able to hold his neck upright, until he was brought into the house. He said:

"If you brought the Mother of the Believers, perhaps they would desist."

He said: they brought Umm Habiba bint Abi Sufyan; I saw her on a white mule, in a litter. When they brought her to the house, they turned the mule's head until they took her back.

Hurayth ibn al-Sa'ib: Al-Hasan narrated to us, and he said:

"During the caliphate of 'Uthman I would enter the houses of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and touch their ceiling with my hand, while I was a young man who had just reached puberty at that time."

Damra: from Ibn al-Shawdhab, who said:

Al-Hasan said: on the day 'Uthman was killed, I was fourteen years old.

Al-Hasan then said: were it not for forgetfulness, knowledge would be abundant.

Hammad ibn Zayd: from Ayyub, from Al-Hasan, who said: I entered upon 'Uthman ibn Abi al-'As.

Jarir ibn Hazim: Al-Hasan narrated to us, 'Amr ibn Taghlib narrated to us, raised (marfu'): "You will fight a people who wear their hair braided."

'Abd al-Hafiz ibn Badran and Yusuf ibn Ahmad informed us, and they said:

Musa ibn 'Abd al-Qadir informed us:

Sa'id ibn al-Banna' informed us: Abu al-Qasim ibn al-Busri informed us: Abu Tahir al-Mukhallis informed us: Abu al-Qasim al-Baghawi narrated to us: Shayban ibn Farrukh narrated to us: Mubarak ibn Fadala narrated to us: Al-Hasan narrated to us, from Anas ibn Malik, who said:

"The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to deliver the Friday sermon beside a palm trunk, leaning his back against it. When the people grew numerous, he said: build me a minbar with two steps."

"When he stood on the minbar to preach, the trunk moaned toward the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)."

He said: "I was in the mosque and heard the trunk moaning like the moaning of a grieving one; it kept moaning until he came down to it, embraced it, and it became still."

When Al-Hasan related this hadith, he would weep, then say: "O servants of Allah, the trunk moaned toward the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) out of longing for him; you are then more deserving of longing to meet him."

This is a hasan, gharib hadith; I have not come across a narration from Al-Hasan higher than it, except for another hadith which I will cite.

Ahmad ibn Ishaq al-Hamdani informed us: al-Fath ibn 'Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Katib informed us: al-Urwi, Muhammad al-Tara'ifi and Abu Ghalib ibn al-Daya informed us, and they said:

Abu Ja'far ibn al-Muslima informed us: Abu al-Fadl 'Ubaydullah ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Zuhri informed us: Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Firyabi informed us: Shayban ibn Farrukh narrated to us: Mubarak ibn Fadala narrated to us:

Al-Hasan said, concerning this verse: { Have you seen the one who takes his desire as his god }

al-Jathiya: 23. He said: it is the hypocrite; there is nothing he desires but he plunges into it.

Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab ibn al-Hubab al-Katib informed us: 'Ali ibn Mukhtar informed us: Abu Tahir al-Silafi informed us: al-Qasim ibn al-Fadl informed us, and Isma'il ibn al-Farra' informed us: Abu Muhammad ibn Qudama informed us: Shuhda al-Ibriyya and Tajanni al-Wahbaniyya informed us, and they said:

Tirad al-Zaynabi informed us, and he said:

Hilal ibn Muhammad al-Haffar narrated to us: al-Husayn ibn Yahya al-Qattan informed us: Abu al-Ash'ath narrated to us: Hazm al-Quta'i narrated to us: I heard Al-Hasan say:

"It has reached us that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: may Allah have mercy on a servant who speaks and gains, or stays silent and is safe."

And by it (the same chain): Hazm narrated to us, and he said:

"I saw Al-Hasan arrive in Mecca; he stood behind the Maqam and prayed. 'Ata', Tawus, Mujahid and 'Amr ibn Shu'ayb came and sat beside him."

This is the highest (chain) we have from Al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him).

Ahmad ibn Abi Khaythama said: I heard Yahya ibn Ma'in say: Al-Hasan did not hear from Abu Hurayra.

He was told: but in some hadiths (it is written): Abu Hurayra narrated to us!

He said: that is nothing.

Musa ibn Isma'il: Rabi'a ibn Kulthum narrated to us, from Al-Hasan, who said:

Abu Hurayra informed us, and he said:

"The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) enjoined three things upon me: the ghusl on Friday, the witr before sleeping, and fasting three days each month."

Rabi'a: truthful (sadiq); Muslim cited a hadith through him.

al-Walid ibn Muslim: from Salim al-Khayyat: I heard Al-Hasan and Ibn Sirin both say:

"We heard Abu Hurayra ...", then he mentioned a hadith.

Salim: weak (wahi).

And Al-Hasan, despite his eminence, practiced tadlis; but his mursal hadiths are not of that kind. He did not seek hadith in his youth; he engaged in much jihad and became a secretary to the governor of Khurasan, al-Rabi' ibn Ziyad.

Sulayman al-Taymi said: Al-Hasan used to go on military expeditions; the mufti of Basra was Jabir ibn Zayd Abu al-Sha'tha', then Al-Hasan came and he gave fatwas.

Muhammad ibn Sa'd said: Al-Hasan (may Allah have mercy on him) was a gatherer (of knowledge), knowledgeable, eminent, a jurist, trustworthy, an authority (hujja), reliable, a worshipper, devout, of abundant knowledge, eloquent, handsome, well-built; but his mursal hadiths do not constitute proof.

al-Asma'i: from his father, who said:

"I never saw a forearm broader than that of Al-Hasan al-Basri; its breadth was a span (shibr)."

I say: he was a man of perfect form, handsome of appearance, radiant, and he was among the brave who are renowned.

Damra ibn Rabi'a: from al-Asbagh ibn Zayd, who heard al-'Awwam ibn Hawshab say: I can liken Al-Hasan to nothing but a prophet.

And from Abu Burda, who said: I never saw anyone resembling the Companions of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) more than him.

Humayd ibn Hilal: Abu Qatada said to us:

"Hold fast to this sheikh; I never saw anyone whose opinion resembled that of 'Umar more than him", meaning Al-Hasan.

And from Anas ibn Malik, who said: ask Al-Hasan, for he has memorized while we have forgotten.

Matar al-Warraq said: when Al-Hasan appeared, he came as if he had been in the Hereafter, informing of what he had seen with his own eyes.

Mujalid: from al-Sha'bi, who said: I never saw anyone darker than Al-Hasan.

From al-Hakam's slave girl, who said: Al-Hasan used to come to Hittan al-Raqashi, and I never saw a young man with a more beautiful face than his!

And from Jurthuma, who said: I saw Al-Hasan dyeing his beard yellow every Friday.

Abu Hilal: I saw Al-Hasan changing (his color) with yellow.

'Arim said: Hammad ibn Salama narrated to us, and he said: I saw Al-Hasan dyeing his beard yellow.

Qatada said: I never compared Al-Hasan's knowledge with that of any scholar without finding him superior; yet when something was unclear to him, he would write to Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib asking him about it. And I never sat with a jurist without seeing Al-Hasan's superiority.

Ayyub al-Sikhtiyani said: a man would sit with Al-Hasan for three pilgrimage seasons without asking him a single question, out of awe of him.

Mu'adh ibn Mu'adh said: I said to al-Ash'ath: you met 'Ata' and you have questions; did you not ask him?!

He said: after Al-Hasan, whoever I met appeared small in my eyes.

Abu Hilal said: I was with Qatada when news of Al-Hasan's death arrived, and I said:

"He truly plunged into knowledge with a plunge."

Qatada said: rather, he grew in it, took root in it and drank it in; by Allah, none hates him except a Haruri.

Muhammad ibn Sallam al-Jumahi: from Hammam, from Qatada, who said:

"It is said that the earth has never been devoid of seven people by whom people are given water and by whom harm is repelled from them; and I hope that Al-Hasan is one of the seven."

Qatada said: no one had a more perfect manly virtue (muru'a) than Al-Hasan.

Humayd and Yunus said: we never saw anyone more perfect in manly virtue than Al-Hasan.

And from 'Ali ibn Yazid, who said:

"I heard Ibn al-Musayyib, 'Urwa, al-Qasim and others: I never saw the like of Al-Hasan; had he lived alongside the Companions while having the like of their teeth (their seniority), they would not have outstripped him."

Hammad ibn Zayd: from al-Hajjaj ibn Arta'a:

"I asked 'Ata' about reciting over a funeral; he said: we neither heard nor knew that it is recited over it."

"I said: but Al-Hasan says it is recited over it."

'Ata' said: hold to that one; he is a great imam who is followed.

Yunus ibn 'Ubayd said: as for me, I never saw anyone whose words came closer to his deeds than Al-Hasan.

Abu Ja'far al-Razi: from al-Rabi' ibn Anas, who said: I frequented Al-Hasan

ten years, or as Allah willed, and there was not a day without my hearing from him what I had never heard before.

Muslim ibn Ibrahim: Sallam ibn Miskin narrated to us: I saw Al-Hasan wearing a qaba' (robe) like gold, gleaming.

Ibn 'Ulayya said: from Yunus:

"In winter Al-Hasan wore a striped (hibara) qaba', a Kurdish shawl and a black turban; in summer: a linen izar, a shirt, and a striped (hibara) burd."

And Hawshab narrated from Al-Hasan, who said: the believer guards his religion with his clothes.

Yunus: about Al-Hasan: he was among the foremost scholars in the matters of civil strife (fitan), blood (homicides) and chastity (furoj).

'Awf said: I never saw a man who knew the path to Paradise better than Al-Hasan.

Hammad ibn Zayd: from Yazid ibn Hazim, who said:

"Al-Hasan left the mosque and some people followed him; he turned to them and said: the clacking of sandals around men rarely fails to expose fools."

And Hawshab narrated from Al-Hasan, who said:

"O son of Adam, by Allah, if you recite the Quran and then believe in it, your sorrow will grow long in this world, your fear will intensify in this world, and your weeping will multiply in this world."

Ibrahim ibn 'Isa al-Yashkuri said: I never saw anyone of longer sorrow than Al-Hasan; I never saw him without thinking that he had just been struck by a calamity.

al-Thawri: from 'Imran al-Qasir, who said:

"I asked Al-Hasan about something, and I said: the jurists say such and such."

He said: have you ever seen a jurist with your own eyes? The jurist is only the one who is ascetic toward this world, clear-sighted in his religion, and constant in the worship of his Lord.

'Abd al-Samad ibn 'Abd al-Warith: Muhammad ibn Dhakwan narrated to us: Khalid ibn Safwan narrated to us, and he said:

"I met Maslama ibn 'Abd al-Malik, and he said: O Khalid, tell me about Al-Hasan, the one of the people of Basra?"

"I said: may Allah keep you righteous; I inform you of him with knowledge: I am his neighbor, beside him, and his companion in his sitting, and I am, of those on my side, the most knowledgeable about him: he is the man whose innermost (sirr) most resembles his public life, and whose word most resembles his deed. If he sat upon a matter, he stood up to it; if he stood upon a matter, he sat upon it; if he ordered a thing, he was the most active of people in carrying it out; if he forbade a thing, he was the most abandoning of people to it. I saw him self-sufficient of people, and I saw the people in need of him."

He said: that suffices you; how could a people go astray with such a man among them?

Hisham ibn Hassan: I heard Al-Hasan swear by Allah: no one ever glorified the dirham except that Allah humiliated him.

And Hazm ibn Abi Hazm said: I heard Al-Hasan say:

"Evil are the two companions: the dinar and the dirham; they benefit you only when they leave you."

And Abu Zur'a al-Razi said: everything Al-Hasan relates as "the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said" has a firm basis, except for four hadiths.

Rawh ibn 'Ubada: al-Hajjaj al-Aswad narrated to us, and he said:

"A man made a wish and said: would that I had the asceticism of Al-Hasan, the piety of Ibn Sirin, the worship of 'Amir ibn 'Abd Qays, the juristic understanding of Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, and even a little of the remembrance (dhikr) of Mutarrif ibn al-Shikhkhir."

He said: they looked into that and found all of it complete in Al-Hasan.

'Isa ibn Yunus: from al-Fudayl Abu Muhammad:

"I heard Al-Hasan say: on the Day of the House I was fourteen years old, I had memorized the Quran, and I was looking at Talha ibn 'Ubaydullah."

Al-Fudayl: unknown.

Ya'qub al-Fasawi: I heard Abu Salama al-Tabudhaki say: I memorized eight thousand questions from Al-Hasan.

And Hammad ibn Salama said: 'Ali ibn Zayd informed us, and he said:

"I saw Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, 'Urwa, al-Qasim and others; I never saw the like of Al-Hasan!"

And Jarir ibn Hazim said: from Humayd ibn Hilal:

Abu Qatada said to us: I never saw anyone whose opinion resembled that of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab more than him, meaning Al-Hasan.

Ibn al-Mubarak: from Ma'mar, from Qatada, who said:

"We entered upon Al-Hasan while he was asleep; at his head was a sack. We pulled it: there was bread and fruit. We began to eat; he awoke, saw us, was pleased and smiled, while reciting: { or your close companion }, no blame upon you."

Hammad ibn Zayd: I heard Ayyub say:

"Al-Hasan would speak words like pearls; then some people spoke after him words that came out of their mouths like vomit."

And al-Sarri ibn Yahya said: Al-Hasan used to fast: the white days, the sacred months, Mondays and Thursdays.

Yunus ibn 'Ubayd: from Al-Hasan, who said:

"We used to borrow from the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)."

Ghalib al-Qattan: from Bakr ibn 'Abdullah al-Muzani, who said:

"Whoever wishes to look at the most knowledgeable in fiqh of those we have seen, let him look at Al-Hasan."

Qatada said: Al-Hasan was among the most knowledgeable of people concerning the lawful and the unlawful.

Abu 'Ubayd al-Ajurri narrated, from Abu Dawud, who said:

"Al-Hasan performed the pilgrimage only twice, for he resided in Khurasan; he kept company with the likes of Qatari ibn al-Fuja'a and al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra, and he was among the brave."

Hisham ibn Hassan said: Al-Hasan was the bravest of the people of his era.

And Abu 'Amr ibn al-'Ala' said: I never saw anyone more eloquent than Al-Hasan and al-Hajjaj.

Fudayl ibn 'Iyad: from a man, from Al-Hasan, who said:

"Paradise has never been adorned for a community as it has been for this community; yet you see no one who is its lover."

Abu 'Ubayda al-Naji: from Al-Hasan, who said:

"O son of Adam, leaving the sin is easier for you than treating repentance; what assures you that you will not commit a grave sin whose door of repentance is shut before you, so that you find yourself beyond remedy?"

Sallam ibn Miskin: from Al-Hasan, who said:

"Belittle this world, and by Allah it will be most pleasant when you belittle it."

And Ja'far ibn Sulayman said: Al-Hasan was among the strongest of men; when al-Muhallab fought the polytheists, he would put him at the front.

And Abu Sa'id ibn al-A'rabi said in (the Tabaqat al-Nussak):

Most of those we have mentioned among the ascetics (nussak) would come to Al-Hasan, listen to his words and defer to him regarding fiqh in these meanings especially. 'Amr ibn 'Ubayd and 'Abd al-Wahid ibn Zayd were among his constant companions. He had a private circle in his house where he would hardly speak except on the meanings of zuhd, nusk and the inner sciences; if someone asked him about something else, he would be annoyed and say: "We only withdrew with our brothers to take counsel."

As for his circle in the mosque, there passed through it hadith, fiqh, the science of the Quran and language, and all the other sciences; he was sometimes asked about Sufism (tasawwuf) and he would answer. Some accompanied him for hadith, some for the Quran and exegesis, some for eloquence, and some for sincerity (ikhlas) and the science of the elect states, like 'Amr ibn 'Ubayd, Abu Jahir, 'Abd al-Wahid ibn Zayd, Salih al-Murri, Shumayt and Abu 'Ubayda al-Naji; each one of these became famous for a state, meaning in worship.

Hammad ibn Zayd: from Ayyub, who said: two kinds among

the people lied about Al-Hasan: a people whose view is predestination (qadar), seeking to spread it among the people through Al-Hasan; and a people bearing in their breasts rancor and hatred toward Al-Hasan. And I confronted him more than once on predestination, until I frightened him with the authorities, and he said: I will not return to it after today. So I know no one able to fault Al-Hasan except over that; and I knew Al-Hasan (by Allah) and what he used to say.

The two Hammads said: from Yunus, who said: nothing disparaged Al-Hasan as much as predestination did.

Hammad ibn Zayd: that Ayyub and Humayd frightened Al-Hasan with the authorities, and he said to them: do you not see that?

They said: no.

He said: I will not return to it.

Hammad said: I know no one able to fault Al-Hasan except over that.

And Abu Ma'shar narrated, from Ibrahim: that Al-Hasan spoke on predestination.

Al-Mughira ibn Miqsam narrated it from him.

And Sulayman al-Taymi said: Al-Hasan retracted his statement on predestination.

Hammad ibn Salama: from Humayd:

"I heard Al-Hasan say: Allah created Satan, created good and created evil."

A man said: may Allah fight them, they lie about this sheikh!

Abu al-Ashhab: I heard Al-Hasan say concerning the verse: { and a barrier was set between them and what they desire }, Saba: 34. He said: a barrier was set between them and faith.

And Hammad said: from Humayd, who said: I read the whole Quran to Al-Hasan, and he explained it

entirely in the sense of affirmation. I asked him about His words: { thus We cause it to run through the hearts of the criminals }, al-Shu'ara: 200. He said: it is shirk that Allah causes to run through their hearts.

Hammad ibn Zayd: from Khalid al-Hadhdha', who said:

"The man asked Al-Hasan and said: { and they will not cease to differ, except those upon whom your Lord has mercy }, Hud: 118-119?"

He said: "the people of His mercy do not differ; for that He created them. He created these for His Paradise and these for His Fire."

I said: O Abu Sa'id, was Adam created for the heaven or for the earth?

He said: he was created for the earth.

I said: what do you think, had he held fast and not eaten from the tree?

He said: he could not have avoided eating from it, for he was created for the earth.

I said: { and you cannot tempt Him, except him who will burn in the Blaze }, al-Saffat: 162-163?

He said: "yes; the devils lead astray only him for whom Allah wills that he burn in the Blaze."

Abu Hilal Muhammad ibn Sulaym: I entered upon Al-Hasan on a Friday and he had not yet performed the jumu'a (the Friday ghusl), so I said: O Abu Sa'id, have you not performed it?

He said: I intended that, but Allah's decree prevented me.

Mansur ibn Zadhan: we asked Al-Hasan about the Quran, and he explained it all in the sense of affirmation.

Damra ibn Rabi'a: from Raja', from Ibn 'Awn, from Al-Hasan, who said:

"Whoever denies predestination has disbelieved."

Hammad ibn Zayd: from Ibn 'Awn, who said:

When Al-Hasan was appointed to the judiciary, a man spoke to me

so that I might speak to him about an orphan's property that was being handed over to him and which he was annexing.

I spoke to him, and he said: do you know the man?

I said: yes.

He said: then it was handed over to him.

Raja' ibn Salama: from Ibn 'Awn, from Ibn Sirin (and he was asked concerning Al-Hasan: why did the people of predestination not incline toward him?). He said:

"They used to come to the sheikh with speech kept vague; had he spelled it out for them, it would have displeased them."

Ibn Abi 'Aruba: I spoke to Matar al-Warraq about the sale of Qurans (mushafs), and he said:

"There was a sage of the community, or a jurist of the community, who would have seen no harm in it: Al-Hasan and al-Sha'bi."

Ibn al-Shawdhab: from Matar, who said:

"We entered upon Al-Hasan to visit him: there was nothing in the house, no bed, no carpet, no pillow, no mat, only a bare cot on which he lay."

'Abd al-Razzaq ibn Hammam: from his father, who said:

"Wahb was appointed to the judiciary at the time of 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, and his understanding was not praised. I related this to Ma'mar, who smiled and said: Al-Hasan was appointed to the judiciary at the time of 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, and his understanding was not praised either."

And Abu Sa'id ibn al-A'rabi said: a group of these people would sit with Al-Hasan. He spoke on the predestined states (khusus) until the Qadariyya accused him of jabr, and he spoke on acquisition (iktisab) until the Sunna accused him of qadar; all of that was due to his subtle reasoning, and the differing of people

in his view, and their differing in what they took from him; and he was innocent of predestination and of every innovation.

I say: Al-Hasan's affirmation of the decrees has come through another channel besides Ayyub's account of him; perhaps it was a slip on his part from which he retracted, praise be to Allah.

As Ahmad al-Abar transmitted in his (Tarikh): Mu'ammal ibn Ihab narrated to us: 'Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us, from Ma'mar, from Qatada, from Al-Hasan, who said:

"Good is by predestination, and evil is not by predestination."

I say: Qatada was indeed accused of predestinarianism.

Ghundar said: from Shu'ba: I saw Al-Hasan wearing a black turban.

And Sallam ibn Miskin said: I saw Al-Hasan wearing a shawl (taylasan) as if water flowed over it, and a cloak (khamisa) like kazz silk.

And Ibn 'Awn said: Al-Hasan used to narrate by meaning.

Ayyub: it was said to Ibn al-Ash'ath: do you delight in having people killed around you as they were killed around the she-camel of 'A'isha? Bring out Al-Hasan.

So he sent for him, and he refused.

Sulaym ibn Akhdar said: Ibn 'Awn narrated to us: they said to Ibn al-Ash'ath: bring out Al-Hasan.

Ibn 'Awn said: I saw him between the two bridges, wearing a black turban; they were heedless of him, and he threw himself into the river until he escaped from them, and he almost perished that day.

Al-Qasim al-Huddani said: I saw Al-Hasan sitting at the base of Ibn al-Ash'ath's minbar.

Hisham: from Al-Hasan, who said:

"A man who sought knowledge would not take long before it showed in his humility, his asceticism, his tongue and his gaze."

Hammad: I heard Thabit say:

"Were it not that you do to me what you did to Al-Hasan, I would relate to you marvelous hadiths."

He then said: "they denied him rest, they denied him sleep."

Humayd al-Tawil: Al-Hasan used to say:

"Associate with people as you wish them to associate with you, for they will treat you the same way."

Ayyub said: I never found the smell of a cooked stew better than the smell of Al-Hasan's pot.

Abu Hilal said: we rarely entered upon Al-Hasan without seeing a pot from which a pleasant smell rose.

Muslim ibn Ibrahim: Iyas ibn Abi Tamima narrated to us:

"I witnessed Al-Hasan at the funeral of Abu Raja', riding a mule, with al-Farazdaq beside him on a camel. Al-Farazdaq said to him: the people have ranked us: they say: the best of people, and the worst of people."

He said: "O Abu Faras, how many a disheveled, dust-covered man with two locks of hair is better than me, and how many an old polytheist you are better than; what have you prepared for death?"

He said: "the testimony that there is no god but Allah."

Al-Hasan said: "it has conditions; beware of slandering the chaste woman."

He said: "is there repentance?"

Al-Hasan said: "yes."

Damra: from al-Asbagh ibn Zayd, who said: Al-Hasan died leaving behind books containing knowledge.

Musa ibn Isma'il: Sahl ibn al-Husayn al-Bahili narrated to us, and he said:

"I sent word to 'Abdullah ibn al-Hasan al-Basri: send me your father's books."

He sent word to me: when he grew heavy (weak), he said to me: gather them for me. I gathered them for him, not knowing what he would do with them; I brought them, and he said to the maidservant: heat the oven.

Then he gave the order, and they were burned except for a single page, which he sent to me, informing me that he used to say: "transmit what is in this page."

Then I met him afterward, and he informed me of it orally, the like of what the messenger had conveyed.

And from al-'Alqama ibn Marthad, in the mention of the Eight of the Followers, who said:

As for Al-Hasan, we never saw anyone of longer sorrow than him; we never saw him without thinking he had just been struck by a calamity. He then said: "we laugh and do not know; perhaps Allah has looked upon some of our deeds."

He said: "I accept nothing from you; woe to you, O son of Adam! Would you wage war against Allah, that is, (do you have) the strength?"

By Allah, I saw people for whom this world was lighter than the dust beneath their feet; and I saw people, one of whom would spend the evening having nothing with him but a bit of food, and say: I will not put all of this in my belly.

He would give part of it in charity, while perhaps he was hungrier than the one on whom he bestowed it.

Ayyub al-Sikhtiyani said: had you seen Al-Hasan, you would have said: you never sat with a jurist.

And from al-A'mash, who said: Al-Hasan kept turning wisdom over until he spoke it. And when Al-Hasan was mentioned before Abu Ja'far al-Baqir, he would say: he is the one whose speech resembles the speech of the prophets.

Salih al-Murri: from Al-Hasan, who said:

"O son of Adam, you are but days; whenever a day passes, part of you departs."

Mubarak ibn Fadala: I heard Al-Hasan say:

"Death has disgraced this world; it has left no joy in it for a man of intellect."

And Thabit narrated from him, and he said: the believer's laughter is a heedlessness of his heart.

Abu Nu'aym in (the Hilya): Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Fadl narrated to us: Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah ibn Sa'id narrated to us: Ahmad ibn Ziyad narrated to us: 'Isma ibn Sulayman al-Khazzaz narrated to us: Fudayl ibn Ja'far narrated to us, and he said:

"Al-Hasan came out from Ibn Hubayra and found the Quran readers sitting at the door. He said: what makes you sit here? Do you intend to enter upon these scoundrels? By Allah, their company is not the company of the righteous. Scatter, and may Allah scatter your souls and your bodies! You have flung your sandals, rolled up your garments, cropped your hair and disgraced the Quran readers: may Allah disgrace you! By Allah, had you shown indifference to what they have, they would have desired what you have; but you desired what they have, so they showed indifference to you. May Allah keep far away whom He keeps far away!"

And from Al-Hasan, who said: "O son of Adam, the knife is sharpened, the ram is fed, and the oven is heated."

Ibn al-Mubarak: Talha ibn Subayh narrated to us, from Al-Hasan, who said:

"The believer is he who knows that what Allah has said is as He said it; the believer is the best of people in deed and the most fearful of people: were he to spend a mountain of wealth, he would not feel secure from seeing (its outcome); he increases in rectitude and piety only as he increases in fear. The hypocrite says: the people are many, I will be forgiven, there is no harm upon me; so he acts wickedly and presumes upon Allah."

al-Tayalisi in (the Musnad) which we heard: Jasr Abu Ja'far narrated to us, from Al-Hasan, from Abu Hurayra:

"The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: whoever recites Ya-Sin in a night seeking the face of Allah, he will be forgiven."

Yunus ibn 'Ubayd and others narrated it from Al-Hasan.

Khalid ibn Khidash: Salih al-Murri narrated to us, from Yunus, who said:

"When death came upon Al-Hasan, he began saying: to Allah we belong and to Him we return. His son came to him and said: O my father, you have beclouded us; have you seen anything?"

He said: "it is my soul; I have not been struck by anything like it."

Hisham ibn Hassan said: we were with Muhammad (Ibn Sirin) on a Thursday afternoon; after the afternoon prayer a man entered upon him and said: Al-Hasan has died.

Muhammad invoked mercy upon him, his color changed, and he refrained from speech; he did not speak until the sun set, and the people refrained from him because of the grief they saw overwhelming him.

I say: Muhammad ibn Sirin lived after Al-Hasan only one hundred days.

Ibn 'Ulayya said: Al-Hasan died in Rajab, in the year one hundred and ten.

And 'Abdullah ibn al-Hasan said: his father lived approximately eighty-eight years.

I say: he died at the beginning of Rajab; his funeral was well attended: the prayer was performed over him after the Friday prayer in Basra, the multitude escorted him and crowded around him to the point that the afternoon prayer was not held in the mosque.

It is narrated that he swooned, then regained consciousness suddenly and said: "You have awakened me from gardens and springs and a noble station."

I say: the critics have differed over arguing from Al-Hasan's copy (nuskha) from Samura, which is about fifty hadiths: his hearing from Samura is established, as it is mentioned that he heard from him the hadith of the 'aqiqa.

'Affan said: Hammam narrated to us, from Qatada: Al-Hasan narrated to me, from Hayyaj ibn