The Preservation of Hadith by Ibrahim Madani

Ja‘far ibn ‘Amr al-Dumarī says:

‘Ubaid Allah ibn ‘Adī ibn Khiyór and I went to Hims [Syria]. At that time, Waúshī was also settled in ûimü; therefore we went to go and meet him. As soon as he saw ‘Ubaid Allóh, he asked, “Are you the son of ‘Adī ibn Khiyór?”.

‘Ubaid Allóh replied, “Yes, I am his son. But how do you know me, I have never met you before.”.

Waúshī replied, “It is true we have never met before, but when you were born I picked you up and gave you to the mid-wife. When I picked you up, everything was covered except your feet. Today, when you came I saw your feet and recognized you.”.

Waúshī saw ‘Ubaid Allah ibn ‘Adi ibn Khiyór after how many years? Hafiz ibn Hajar writes in Fatú al-Barī, “After birth, he saw him for the second time after fifty years”.14 And the amazing part is that Wahshī recognized him immediately.15

The books of history and the books on the biographies of the narrators are full of such incidents. Firstly Allah (SWTH) blessed them with extraordinary memories, and, secondly, they were so passionate about ahadith that they took every step and made every effort within their means to gain knowledge of it. Their endeavors and hardships in this regard are not difficult for us to realize and understand in our times.