Likewise, recall al-Ṭiyālisī of Basra (1), for every report he transmitted gleams like a string of pearls; and ʿAffān (2)—yes indeed—and Abū Nuʿaym (3), a man of commendable character and approved deeds; and Yaḥyā (4), the shaykh of Nishapur; then the Imam al-Shāfiʿī, whose example I take; add Ibn Khālid (5), surnamed Abū Thawr, who attained the highest ranks; and further, the trustworthy Abū ʿUbayd (6)—all of them towering luminaries among the masters of discourse; such figures as Yaḥyā (7) and the eminent Ibn Ḥanbal, distinguished for their knowledge of the texts and of the transmitters; and Isḥāq the devout, the successful young scholar, and ʿAbd Allāh, a man of long-standing praise. Isḥāq is Ibn Rāhawayh (8); the “successful youth” is Ibn al-Madīnī (9); and ʿAbd Allāh is Ibn Abī Shaybah (10).
(1) The two Tayālisis of Basra are: Abū Dāwūd Sulaymān b. Dāwūd b. al-Jārūd al-Tayālisi, of Persian stock, from Basra, who died in 203; and Abū al-Walīd Hishām b. ʿAbd al-Malik al-Tayālisi, a client of the Bahila tribe, who died in 227.
(2) ʿAffān b. Muslim b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Bāhili, Abū ʿUthmān al-Saffār al-Basri, died in 219.
(3) al-Faḍl b. Dukayn al-Kūfi, known as al-Aḥwal, Abū Nuʿaym al-Malāʾi, died in 218 or 219.
(4) We presume the reference is to Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā b. Bukayr b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Tamimi al-Nīsābūri, a reliable and firmly established imam, who died in 226.
(5) Ibrāhīm b. Khālid b. Abī al-Yamān al-Kalbi, Abū Thawr the jurist, companion of al-Shāfiʿi, trustworthy; he died in 240.
(6) He undoubtedly means al-Qāsim b. Sallām al-Baghdādi, the renowned imam, who died in 224.
(7) This is Yaḥyā b. Maʿīn, Abū Zakariyyā al-Baghdādi, the celebrated ḥāfiẓ and foremost authority on narrator criticism, who died in 236.
(8) Isḥāq b. Ibrāhīm b. Mukhlad al-Ḥanẓali, Abū Muḥammad b. Rāhawayh al-Marwazi, a contemporary of Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, who died in 238.
(9) That is ʿAlī b. al-Madīnī, the famous ḥadīth critic, who died in 234.
(10) ʿAbd Allāh b. Muḥammad b. Abī Shaybah Ibrāhīm b. ʿUthmān, originally from Wāsiṭ and settled in Kufa, author of several compilations, who died in 235.