He was born—I believe—during the reign of Yazid.

He transmitted hadith from Anas ibn Malik, Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib, Abu ʿUthman al-Nahdi, ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr, Abu Qilabah, al-Hasan, al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, and others.

Those who narrated from him include Shuʿbah, Sufyan, Hammad ibn Salamah, ʿAbd al-Warith, Hammad ibn Zayd, Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah, Ismaʿil ibn ʿUlayyah, Sharik, and several others.

He was born blind, like Qatadah, and was one of the vessels of knowledge; yet he had a slight inclination toward Shiʿism and a poor memory that kept him from the level of precision.

Abu Zurʿah and Abu Hatim said, "He is not strong."

Al-Bukhari and others remarked, "He is not to be relied upon as evidence."

Ibn Khuzaymah stated, "I do not rely on him because of his poor memory."

Al-Tirmidhi said, "He is truthful (saduq), though Ibn ʿUyaynah regarded him leniently."

Shuʿbah said, "ʿAli ibn Zayd narrated to us—he was given to raising reports." On another occasion he said, "He narrated to us before confusion set in."

Hammad ibn Zayd said, "ʿAli ibn Zayd informed us, and he used to invert hadith."

Al-Fallas reported that Yahya ibn Saʿid avoided him.

Ahmad ibn Hanbal declared, "Weak."

ʿAbbas related from Yahya: "He is nothing." Yet on another occasion Yahya said, "He is dearer to me than Ibn ʿAqil and ʿAsim ibn ʿUbayd Allah." ʿUthman al-Darimi also transmitted from Yahya: "He is not that strong."

Al-ʿIjli said, "He inclined toward Shiʿism; he is not strong."

Al-Fasawi said, "His memory became confused in his old age."

Al-Daraqutni remarked, "He still appears to me to be soft."

I (the author) have presented his full profile in al-Mizan and elsewhere. He has some odd and objectionable narrations, yet he possessed broad knowledge.

Mansur ibn Zadhan said, "When al-Hasan passed away, we said to ʿAli ibn Zayd, ‘Sit in his place.’"

Al-Jurayri observed, "The jurists of Basra have ended up blind: Qatadah, Ibn Judʿan, and Ashʿath al-Huddani."