Whilst I would walk through the market of Baghdad, I could hear the sound of female singers from the rooms, so I would put my fingers in my ears.
Category: Knowledge
Nothing I have ever memorised
There is nothing I have [ever] memorised and then [later] forgotten.
I have never revised a hadeeth
I have never revised a hadeeth, and nor have I ever had any doubt in [the memorisation of] a hadeeth, except one hadeeth; and when I questioned my colleague about it, [I found] it was [exactly] as I had memorised [it].
When his house burnt down
Abu ‘Amr al-‘Alaa’s home was full of books. So when his house burnt down, all that we took from him (in terms of knowledge) thereafter until he died was from his memory
Qataadah was the best at memorising
From amongst the people of al-Basrah, Qataadah was the best at memorising; whatever he heard, he would memorise. The book “Saheefatu-Jaabir” was read to him [only] once and he memorised it [all].
Do not waste this knowledge
‘Do not waste this knowledge [over] which we have laboured.’
I know more
For 20 years I have not heard from any man who narrates hadeeth except that I know more about it than him.
So I asked Allaah for more than that
I drank some [Zam Zam water] once, whilst I was [just] beginning my studies in hadeeth, and asked Allaah to bless me with [strength of memory of] the calibre of ath-Thahabee in memorising hadeeth.
So I asked him about the remedy for memorising
I have never seen Wakee’ with a book in his hands, rather, he memorised. So I asked him about the remedy for memorising.
Not considered knowledge
Any knowledge which cannot accompany its possessor to the toilet is not considered knowledge