girth; broad-bellied, with profuse hair that he parted down the middle, much given to jest and laughter, and he used to dye with henna. (1)

Ibn ʿAwn said, “Muḥammad would transmit a hadith exactly as he had heard it, whereas al-Ḥasan was a man of interpretation.”

ʿAwn ibn ʿUmārah reported: Hishām narrated to us, saying, “The most truthful person I ever met—Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn—related this to me.”

Ḥabīb ibn al-Shahīd said, “I was with ʿAmr ibn Dīnār when he declared, ‘By Allah, I have never seen anyone like Ṭāwūs.’” Ayyūb al-Sakhtiyānī, who was sitting there, replied, “By Allah, had he seen Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, he would not have said that.”

Muʿādh ibn Muʿādh related: “I heard Ibn ʿAwn say, ‘I have never seen anyone comparable to Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn.’”

Khalīf ibn ʿUqbah said, “Ibn Sīrīn was one of a kind.”

Hammād ibn Zayd, quoting ʿUthmān al-Battī, stated, “In Basra no one was more versed in judicial affairs than Ibn Sīrīn.” (2)

Shuʿayb ibn al-Ḥabḥāb said, “Al-Shaʿbī used to tell us, ‘Stick to that deaf one’—meaning Ibn Sīrīn.” (3)

Ibn Yūnus said, “In certain matters Ibn Sīrīn was keener than al-Ḥasan.” (4)