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.