and ʿAlī ibn Judʿān, Ḥajjāj ibn Abī Zaynab, and a host of others.
He was present at the Battle of Yarmūk.
He was deemed trustworthy by ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī, Abū Zurʿah, and other authorities.
Some said that he was originally from Kūfah and later settled in Basra.
His emigration from the land of his people took place when ʿUmar assumed the caliphate.
He ranked among the foremost scholars who acted on their knowledge.
Ḥumayd al-Ṭawīl narrated from him that he said, “I have reached one hundred and thirty-three years of age.”
I say: On that basis he was older than Anas ibn Mālik and Sahl ibn Saʿd al-Sāʿidī—indeed, older than Ibn ʿAbbās and ʿĀʾishah as well.
The ḥāfiẓ Abū Naṣr al-Kalābādhī said: “Abū ʿUthmān accepted Islam during the Prophet’s lifetime—peace and blessings be upon him—yet never met him; nonetheless, he paid the zakāt to the Prophet’s officials.”
Yazīd ibn Hārūn reported: Ḥajjāj ibn Abī Zaynab narrated to us that he heard Abū ʿUthmān say:
“We used to worship a stone in the pre-Islamic era. Then we heard a herald cry out, ‘People of the encampments! Your lord has perished, so look for a lord.’ We mounted every unruly and docile beast and set off; and while we were in that state, another herald called, ‘We have found your lord—or something like him.’ We came and there was a stone, so we slaughtered camels over it (1).”
ʿĀṣim al-Aḥwal also narrated from Abū ʿUthmān that he said:
“I saw Yaghūth—an idol cast in lead—being carried on a bare camel. Whenever the camel came to a valley it knelt there, and the people would say, ‘Your lord has approved this valley for you.’”
Abū Qutaybah related: Abū Ḥabīb al-Marwazī told us that he heard Abū ʿUthmān al-Nahdī say, “I performed the pilgrimage twice in the pre-Islamic period.”
ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn Sulaymān transmitted from ʿĀṣim al-Aḥwal: “Abū ʿUthmān was asked …”