The Recorder of Hadith
Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As, son of the conqueror Amr ibn al-As, set himself to write down everything he heard from the Prophet ﷺ. When some of the Quraysh warned him that the Prophet ﷺ was a man who might speak in anger as in calm, he stopped — until the Prophet ﷺ, pointing to his own mouth, told him to keep writing, for nothing came from it but the truth. His written collection became famous as as-Sadiqa, “the Truthful.” 1 Stories of the Sahabah · pp. 287–288 — Zakariyya Kandhlawi — Abdullah writes the hadith; the Quraysh's objection; the Prophet bids him keep writing; his book as-Sadiqa.
A Worshipper Moderated
So intense was his worship — fasting every day and reciting the whole Qur’an each night — that the Prophet ﷺ restrained him, reminding him of the rights his body, family, and guests had over him, and bidding him complete the Qur’an in no fewer than three days. 2 Stories of the Sahabah · pp. 287 — Zakariyya Kandhlawi — Abdullah's daily fasting and nightly Qur'an; the Prophet moderates it, citing the rights of body and family.
Virtues in the Hadith
اكْتُبْ فَوَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ مَا يَخْرُجُ مِنْهُ إِلاَّ حَقٌّ
”Write! For by Him in whose hand is my soul, nothing comes out of it but truth.”
Sunan Abi Dawud 3646 · Book 26 (Knowledge), Hadith 6 · narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr · graded Sahih (al-Albani)
Life Timeline
Born in Makkah
Son of Amr ibn al-As, of Banu Sahm.
Permitted to write down the hadith
His collection named as-Sadiqa, 'the Truthful'.
His worship moderated by the Prophet ﷺ
Dies
References
- Stories of the Sahabah — Zakariyya Kandhlawi — Abdullah writes down the hadith; his book as-Sadiqa; his fasting and recitation moderated by the Prophet ﷺ pp. 287–288
- Sunan Abi Dawud — 'Write, for by Him in whose hand is my soul, nothing comes from it but truth' — Sahih (al-Albani) pp. 3646 (Book 26, Hadith 6)