I say: Al-Zuhrī’s mursal narrations are tantamount to muʿḍal (severed chains), for two transmitters have usually been dropped. It is not permissible to suppose that he omitted only the Companion; had he possessed a report from a Companion he would have made that clear and would not have been unable to connect the chain—at the very least he would have said, “from one of the Companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.” Whoever treats al-Zuhrī’s mursal reports as equal to those of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr and their peers simply does not know what he is saying. No—their proper counterpart is the mursal of Qatādah and those like him.

Abū Ḥātim said: Aḥmad ibn Abī Shurayḥ narrated to us, saying, “I heard al-Shāfiʿī remark, ‘The mursal of al-Zuhrī counts for nothing, because we find him narrating from Sulaymān ibn Arqam.’”

Zayd ibn Yaḥyā al-Dimashqī reported: ʿAlī ibn Ḥawshab narrated to us from Makḥūl. When al-Zuhrī was mentioned in Makḥūl’s presence he said, “What a man he was—were it not that he spoilt himself by consorting with kings!”

I say: Some who are of no consequence refused to take hadith from al-Zuhrī because he associated with the caliphs. Even if he did, he remains sound and authoritative—and where will one find the like of al-Zuhrī, may Allah have mercy on him?

Salām ibn Abī Muṭīʿ, on the authority of Ayyūb al-Sakhtiyānī, said: “If I were to write from anyone, I would write from Ibn Shihāb.”

I say: Ayyūb actually took only a little from him.

Yaʿqūb al-Sadūsī related: al-Ḥulwānī told me, al-Shāfiʿī told us, my uncle told us:

Sulaymān ibn Yasār entered upon Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik. Hishām asked, “O Sulaymān, who among them assumed the chief burden of the slander?” He answered, “ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl.” Hishām retorted, “You have lied; it was ʿAlī.”

Then Ibn Shihāb came in, and Hishām put the same question to him. He replied, “It was ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy.” Hishām said, “You have lied; it was ʿAlī.” Ibn Shihāb retorted, “Am I the liar—may you lose your father! By Allah, even if a herald were to call out from heaven, ‘Allah has made lying lawful,’ I would still never lie. Saʿīd, ʿUrwah, ʿUbayd and ʿAlqamah ibn Waqqāṣ all narrated to me from ʿĀʾishah that the one who bore the principal blame was ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy.” He said that the people kept provoking Hishām against him.

Hishām then said, “Be off! By Allah, we should never have treated someone like you in this way.” Ibn Shihāb replied, “And why? Did I force myself upon you, or did you impose yourself upon me? Leave me alone.” Hishām said, “No—but you still owe two million.” Ibn Shihāb answered, “You and your father before you know perfectly well that I never borrowed that money from either of you.” Hishām said, “We only wanted to goad the shaykh,” and then he ordered