Ḥusayn ibn Aḥmad al-Hājī said: “I accompanied Abū al-Muẓaffar on the pilgrimage. Whenever we entered a town he would stay with the Sufis and seek out ḥadīth. Throughout the journey his constant supplication was, ‘O Allah, make the truth plain to me.’ When we reached Mecca he lodged with Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn Asad, and he kept company with Saʿd al-Zanjānī until the latter became a recognised ḥadīth scholar. (1)

I have read, in the handwriting of Abū Jaʿfar al-Hamadhānī—himself a ḥadīth master—that he said: I heard Abū al-Muẓaffar al-Samʿānī narrate: “I was performing ṭawāf, and when I reached the Multazam a man seized my cloak. It was Imām Saʿd. I smiled, and he said, ‘Do you not realise where you are? This is the station of the prophets and the saints.’ He then lifted his gaze heavenward and prayed: ‘O Allah, just as You have brought him to the most honoured place, grant him the noblest dignity in every place and time.’ Turning back to me, he laughed and said, ‘Do not oppose me inwardly; raise your hands with me to your Lord and say nothing at all. Gather your resolve while I supplicate for you; you say “Āmīn.” Let not your old covenant with me be broken.’ I wept, raised my hands with him, he moved his lips, and I said “Āmīn.” Then he said, ‘Go, under Allah’s protection, for the righteous supplication of the Community concerning you has been answered.’ I went on my way, and nothing was more hateful to me than the school of the dissenters. (2)

Again in Abū Jaʿfar’s hand: I heard Imām al-Ḥaramayn say, ‘If fiqh were a carefully folded garment, Abū al-Muẓaffar al-Samʿānī would be its embroidery.’ (3)

Imām Abū ʿAlī ibn al-Ṣaffār remarked: ‘Whenever I debate with Abū al-Muẓaffar, it feels as though I am debating one of the leading scholars among the Followers, so evident are the marks of righteousness upon him.’ (4)