for his devotion to sound hadith and his mastery of them, even though I do not concur with him in much of what he says about the narrators, the hidden defects, and the more daunting issues of both fundamentals and subsidiary rulings. I am certain that he erred in more than one matter; nevertheless I neither declare him an unbeliever nor deem him deviant, and I pray that he—and all Muslims—will be granted pardon and forbearance.

I readily bow to his exceptional intelligence and the vast range of his learning. I found him quoting those who say, “The most august of all compilations is the Muwattaʾ.” He replied: “Rather, the books most deserving of veneration are the two Sahih collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim, the Sahih of Ibn al-Sakan, the Muntaqa of Ibn al-Jarud, the Muntaqa of Qasim ibn Asbagh, then after these come the book of Abu Dawud, the book of al-Nasaʾi, the Musannaf of Qasim ibn Asbagh (1), and the Musannaf of Abu Jaʿfar al-Tahawi.”

I said: He did not mention the Sunan of Ibn Majah or the Jamiʿ of Abu ʿIsa, because he never saw them, and they were not brought to al-Andalus until after his death.

He then added: the Musnad of al-Bazzar, the Musnad of the two sons of Abu Shaybah (2), the Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, the Musnad of Ishaq, the Musnad of al-Tayalisi, the Musnad of al-Hasan ibn Sufyan, the Musnad of Ibn Sanjar, the Musnad of ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Musnadi, the Musnad of Yaʿqub ibn Shaybah, the Musnad of ʿAli ibn al-Madini, and the Musnad of Ibn Abi Ghurazah (3)—and whatever else resembles these works that are devoted exclusively to the words of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him; after them come the books that mix his words with the words of others.