The Life of Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak (رحمه الله): The Scholar of the East and the Scholar of the West
http://fajr.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/biography-abdullah-ibn-al-mubarak.pdf
Sufyan ibn 'Uyaynah (رحمه الله) said: "I looked to the Sahabah (رضي الله عنهم) and I looked to 'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak (رحمه الله), but I didn't see a virtue for them over him, except in their companionship of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and their battles with him."
'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak (رحمه الله) said: "If Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) had not benefitted me through Abu Hanifa (رحمه الله) and Sufyan al-Thawri (رحمه الله), I would have been just like any ordinary person." (Tabyid al-sahifa 1617)
