Sunan ad-Darimi

Wahb bin Munabbih narrated from his brother that he heard Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) say: There is no one among the companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) who has more of his hadith than I do, except for Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him), because he used to write them down and I did not write.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: I used to write down whatever I heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) with the intention of memorizing it. Then the Quraysh forbade me and said: You write down whatever you hear from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), even though the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is also a human being and speaks in states of anger and pleasure. So I stopped writing and mentioned this to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He pointed towards his blessed mouth with his finger and said: "Write! By Him in whose hand is my soul, nothing comes out of it except the truth and righteousness."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah! I wish to narrate your hadith, so if you consider it appropriate, I intend to assist my heart with the writing of my hand as well. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "First, memorize my hadith well, then assist your heart with the writing of your hand as well."

Abu Qabeel said: I heard Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with them both) say: We were sitting around the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) writing, when suddenly the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked: Which city will be conquered first, Constantinople or Rome? The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: "No, the city of Heraclius will be conquered first." (That is, Rome).

Abdullah bin Dinar said: Umar bin Abdul Aziz, may Allah have mercy on him, wrote to Abu Bakr bin Muhammad bin Amr bin Hazm that whatever established hadith of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and from 'Umrah you have, write it and send it to us, because I fear the disappearance and loss of knowledge.

Abdullah bin Dinar said that Umar bin Abdul Aziz, may Allah have mercy on him, wrote to the people of Madinah to search for the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and write it down. He said, "I fear the disappearance of knowledge and the loss or departure of the people of knowledge."

Abu Miliḥ (Usama bin Umair) said: People find fault with us for writing, although Allah Almighty says: «﴿ عِلْمُهَا عِنْدَ رَبِّي فِي كِتَابٍ ﴾» [طه: 52/20] meaning, "Its knowledge is written with my Lord."

Sawadah bin Hibban narrated that I heard Abu Ayyas Muawiyah bin Qurrah say: Whoever does not record his knowledge, his knowledge will not remain knowledge.

Abdullah bin al-Muthanna said: Thumamah bin Anas narrated to me that Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say to his sons: O my sons! Preserve this knowledge, that is, write it down.

Muslim bin Qais Al-Alawi said: I saw Aban (ibn Abi Ayyash) writing on a (board) tablet in the presence of Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him).

It is narrated from Hasan bin Jabir that he asked Sayyiduna Abu Umamah Bahili (may Allah be pleased with him) about writing down knowledge, so he replied: There is no harm in it.

Bashir bin Nahik said: I used to write down whatever I heard from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him). When I was about to leave him, I took what I had written to him and read it out to him and said, "This is what I have heard from you." He said, "That is correct."

Saeed bin Jubair said: I used to listen to hadith at night from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar and Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them), and I used to write it down on the saddle's handle.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: In my life, nothing is dearer and more beloved to me than Sadiqah and Wahat. «صادقه» is a collection of hadith and that scroll which I wrote from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and «وهط» is that land in Ta’if which (my respected father) Amr bin al-As gave in charity, upon which they used to work.

Abdul Malik bin Abdullah bin Abi Sufyan narrated from his uncle Amr bin Abi Sufyan that he heard Sayyiduna Umar bin Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) say: Preserve knowledge by writing it down.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: Preserve this knowledge by writing it down.

Uthman bin Hakeem narrated that I heard Saeed bin Jubair say: I was walking with Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) on the road to Makkah, and whenever he narrated any hadith, I would write it on the saddle's handle so that I could write it in my notebook in the morning.

Saeed bin Jubair said: I used to write in a scroll for Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), and if nothing else was available, I would even write on a shoe.

Saeed bin Jubair said: I used to sit with Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) and write in a scroll until it would be filled, then I would turn over my shoe and write on its sole.

Ubaid (bin Mehran) Mukatib said: I saw people writing the Tafsir from Mujahid.

Abdullah bin Hanish said: I saw people writing on their hands with reeds in the presence of Sayyiduna Bara’ bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with them both).

It is narrated from Harun bin Antrah, from his father, who said: Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrated a hadith to me. I asked: May I write it down from you? He said: Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) permitted me and did not prevent me.

Raja bin Haywah narrated: Hisham bin Abdul Malik wrote to his governor to ask me about a hadith. Raja said: If it had not been written with me, I would have forgotten it.

Hisham bin Ghaz said that he used to ask Ata bin Abi Rabah (may Allah have mercy on him), and whatever answer he gave, he would write it down in his presence.

Sulaiman bin Musa saw Nafi', the freed slave of Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), dictating his knowledge, and he (i.e., Sulaiman) was writing in front of him.

Mubarak bin Saeed narrated: Sufyan used to write hadith on the wall at night, and when morning came, he would copy it and then scrape off what was written on the wall.

Awn bin Abdullah narrated that I said to Umar bin Abdul Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him): Such-and-such companion of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) narrated a hadith to me. Umar bin Abdul Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) recognized him. I said: He narrated to me this hadith, that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “Indeed, modesty, chastity, and humility of the heart—not just humility of the tongue—and understanding and reflection are part of faith, and all these are things that increase the deeds of the Hereafter and decrease the actions of the world, and what they increase in the Hereafter is much greater. And indeed, shamelessness, bad conduct, and miserliness are part of hypocrisy, and all these are among those things that increase in the world but decrease in the Hereafter, and what they decrease in the Hereafter is much greater.”

Abu Qilabah said: Umar bin Abdul Aziz, may Allah have mercy on him, came out for the Zuhr prayer and he had a paper with him. Then when he came for the Asr prayer, that paper was still with him. So I asked: O Commander of the Faithful! What is this book? He replied: This is the hadith that Awn bin Abdullah narrated to me. I liked it, so I wrote it down. When I looked, it was that very hadith written on it, i.e., the aforementioned hadith.

Sharahbeel bin Saad said that Hasan called his sons and nephews and said: O sons of mine and my brother! You are the youngest in the family and soon you will be counted among the elders, so acquire knowledge, and whoever among you does not have the ability to memorize and narrate, let him write it down and keep it in his house.