In The Name of Allah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.

Muttarrif Bin Abdillah, may Allah have mercy upon him

He was the Imam, the one followed as a role model, an authority in the realigion, Abu Abdillah al-Harashi al-Aamiri al-Basri, the brother of Yazid ibn Abdillah.

He narrated from his father — may Allah be pleased with him — and from Ali, Ammaar, Abu Dharr, Uthman, Aʾishah, Uthman ibn Abee al-As, Mu’aawiyah, Imran ibn Husayn, Abdullah ibn Mughaffal al-Muzani, and others. He also narrated from Abu Muslim al-Judhami and Hakim ibn Qays ibn Aasim al-Munqari. He transmitted mursal reports from Ubayy ibn Kaʿb.

Those who narrated from him include: al-Hasan al-Basri, his brother Yazid ibn Abdillah, Abu al-Tayyah Yazid ibn Humayd, Thabit al-Bunani, Saʿid ibn Abee Hind, Qatadah, Ghaylan ibn Jarir, Muhammad ibn Wasi, Abu Nadrah al-Abdi, Yazid al-Rishk, Humayd ibn Hilal, Saʿid al-Jurayri, his nephew Abdullah ibn Hani ibn ʿAbdullih ibn al-Shikh’kheer, Abdul Karim ibn Rashid, Abu Nuʿamah al-Saʿdee, and many others besides them.

Al-Ajlee said: He was trustworthy. None in Basra was saved the fitnah of Ibn al-Ashʿath except him and Ibn Seeree, and none in Kufa was saved except Khaythamah ibn Abdur Rahman and Ibraaheem An-Nakha’ee.

Mahdi ibn Maymun said: Ghaylan ibn Jarir narrated to us that there was a dispute between (Muttarrif) and another man, so the man lied about him. So he said, “O Allah! If he is lying, then cause him to die.” The man immediately fell and died on the spot. This matter was reported to Ziyad, who said, “Did you kill the man?” He replied, “No, rather, it a supplication that corresponded with his appointed time (of death).”

He used to say: “People’s intellects are in accordance with (circumstances) of their era”.

In Al-Hilyah al-Awliya, Abu Al-Ashhab narrated from a man that Mutarrif ibn Abdillah said: “To sleep through the night and wake up feeling regretful (i.e. missing the night prayer) is more beloved to me than to stand (in prayer) through the night and wake up while being self-amazed”.

Imam Adh-Dhahabi said: “I say, by Allah, the one who praises himself or is self-amazed will not be successful”.

Ja‘far ibn Sulayman narrated: Thabit said that Mutarrif said: If my heart was removed and placed on my left hand, and all good were brought and placed on my right hand, I would not be able allow any of that good enter my heart until Allah places it in it”.

Abu Ja‘far al-Razi, from Qatadah, from Mutarrif, said: “Indeed, this death has ruined the enjoyment of those live in enjoyment, therefore, seek after an enjoyment in which there is no death”. [An Excerpt from Siyar A’lam An-Nubulaa 4/188]