Sufyān al-Thawrī (May Allah have mercy on him) invests his money

Sheikh al-Islām, Imām, Hāfidh, the chief of the Ulamā, Abū Abdullāh Sufyān ibn Sa’īd ibn Masrūq al-Kūfī al-Thawrī was born in the year 97 A.H during the caliphate of Sulaimān ibn Abdul-Mālik. He began his pursuit of knowledge at a young age under the care of his father, the muḥaddith, Sa’īd ibn Masrūq al-Thawrī who was a companion of Sh’abī and Khaithamah ibn Abdurrahmān. He was an imām in the science of ḥadīth, as well as other islamic sciences, a mujṭahid and authored the book al-Jāmi’. There is consensus of opinion on his religiousness, piety, asceticism, and reliability. He died in Baṣra in the year 161 A.H.⁴⁷

Amongst those whom he narrates from and who narrate from him are the following:

Muḥammad ibn ‘Ijlān, Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, ‘Abdullah ibn Mubārak, Ibrāhīm Ibn Adham, Ḥamza al-Ẓayyaṭ, J’afar al-Ṣādiq, Ḥamād ibn Salamah, Sulaimān al-‘Amash, Sufyān ibn ‘Uyainah, al-Awzā’ī, Fudhail ibn ‘Iyādh, Abū Hanīfah, and Waki’a ibn al-Jarraḥ.⁴⁸

Ibn Ḥumaid reports that he heard Mihrān al-Rāzī saying, “I had written Sufyān’s compilations which he had dictated but I lost the book on blood money. I mentioned that to him and he told me to remind him about it when he was free so he could dictate it to me. When he went to perform Ḥāj, I reminded him [after he had performed tawāf and sa’ī, and was laying down]. He started dictating the book to me, one chapter after another, until he finished the entire book from memory.”⁴⁹

Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad al-Shāfi’ī says that he once asked Abdullāh ibn Mubārak, “Have you seen anyone like Sufyān?” Ibn Mubārak replied, “Has he seen the like of himself?”⁵⁰

One night Sufyān ate to his fill. He said, “When a donkey is given more fodder he works more,” then he stood up in ṣalāh until the morning.⁵¹

Ibn Mahdī states that they used to sleep majority of the night, but when Sufyān came to stay with them they only slept a very small portion of it.⁵²

Aḥmad ibn Yūnus relates that he can’t count the number of times he heard Sufyān supplicating:

اَللّهُمَّ سَلِّمْ سَلِّمْ اَللَّهُمَّ سَلِّمْنَا وَارْزُقْنَا الْعَافِيَةَ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَ الْآخِرَة

[O Allah, safety! Safety! O Allah, grant us safety and well-being in the world and the Hereafter.]⁵³

Once Sufyān took some money and presents from one of the governors, but later on he wouldn’t accept anything from anyone. He used to go to Yemen, engage in trade and distribute whatever he had amongst his companions as an investment. Every year, during the Ḥāj season, he would meet them, settle up his accounts and take possession of his profits.⁵⁴