And ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Zinād does not satisfy al-Bukhārī’s criterion; he occupies an intermediate rank.
Ibn Wahb reported: Ibn Abī al-Zinād informed us, from his father, who narrated to me—Khārijah ibn Zayd—who said:
“A drunken man from the Anṣār killed a fellow Anṣārī during the time of Muʿāwiya. There were no eyewitnesses to the crime—only bloodstains and suspicion—so the people agreed that the victim’s heirs should swear the required oaths and then the killer would be handed over to them for execution.
We rode to Muʿāwiya and related the case to him. He wrote to Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ: ‘If what we have reported to him is true, let him have us swear oaths concerning the murderer and then surrender him to us.’
We delivered Muʿāwiya’s letter to Saʿīd, who said, ‘I shall carry out the order of the Commander of the Believers. Come back tomorrow, by the blessing of Allah.’
So we went to him the next morning, and after we had sworn fifty oaths he handed the murderer over to us.”
170 – Yaḥyā ibn Yaʿmar, Abū Sulaymān al-ʿAdwānī* (ʿA)
A jurist, distinguished scholar, and Qur’an reciter; Abū Sulaymān al-ʿAdwānī of Baṣra, later judge of Merv. He was also known as Abū ʿAdiyy.
Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi al-Zinad reports from his father, from Kharija ibn Zayd ibn Thabit, who said: Zayd ibn Thabit related, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ instructed me to learn the script of the Jews, saying: ‘By Allah, I do not trust the Jews with my correspondence.’ I therefore studied it, and within half a month I had mastered it. From then on I would write for him when he wished to dictate and read for him the letters that reached him.”
Its chain of transmission is judged hasan (sound).
Al-Tirmidhi comments: “hasan sahih.”
Al-Hakim also declared it sahih (1/75), and the author concurs.
Ahmad (5/183) and Al-Hakim (3/422) transmit—through the isnad of Jarir, from al-Aʿmash, from Thabit ibn ʿUbayd—that Zayd ibn Thabit said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ asked, “Do you know Syriac? Letters come to me in that language.” I replied, “No.” He said, “Then learn it.” I learned it in seventeen days. This isnad is sahih.
(1) Ibn ʿAsakir, vol. 5, p. 201 A.
(*) Ibn Saʿd, al-Tabaqat, vol. 7, p. 368; Khalifa, al-Tabaqat, no. 1649; al-Bukhari, al-Tarikh, vol. 8, p. 311; Ibn Abi Hatim, al-Jarh wa-l-Taʿdil, vol. 4 (part 2), p. 196; al-Marzubani, al-Muʿjam, p. 485 (under the name Yahya ibn Naʿim); Ibn al-Nadim, al-Fihrist, p. 47; al-Zubaydi, Tabaqat al-Nahwiyyin wa-l-Lughawiyyin, p. 27; Yaqut, Muʿjam al-Udabaʾ, vol. 20, p. 42; al-Samirraʾi (ed.), Nuzhat al-Albāʾ, p. 8; Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-Aʿyan, vol. 6, p. 173; al-Mizzi, Tahdhib al-Kamal, p. 1529; al-Dhahabi, Tarikh al-Islam, vol. 4, p. 68; al-Dhahabi, Tadhkirat al-Huffaz, vol. 1, p. 71; al-Dhahabi, Tadhhib al-Tahdhib, vol. 4, p. 171 A; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa-l-Nihaya, vol. 9, p. 73; Ibn al-Jazari, Ghayat al-Nihaya, (entry incomplete in the source).