35. He is Shu'bah ibn al-Hajjaj...

35.He is Shu'bah ibn al-Hajjaj, the leader of men of hadith. He died in Basrah in 160 H. He was so explicit in his utterances. An example for his candidness is his saying: "By God I am more well-versed in poetry than in hadith. If I intended (to please) God I would never come out to you, and if you sought (pleasure of) God you would never come toward me. But we love flattery and detest censure." Ibn Kathir, al-Bidayah wa al-nihayah, vol. VIII, p.