Reading the Books of the Salaf Is Like Accompanying Them
Aḥmad b. Abī ʿImrān said:
“I was with Abū ‘Ayyūb Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Shujāʾ whilst he was in his house, so he sent a young boy from his servants to Abū ʿAbdullāh b. al-Aʿrābī[1] (the author of ‘al-Gharīb) to ask him to come to him. So the boy returned and said: ‘I asked him concerning that so he said to me: ‘I have a people from the Arabs here with me, so when I finish dealing with an important matter with them then I will come.’ The boy said: ‘And I did not see anybody there with him except that there were books in front of him which he was...
