And with that same chain, Abū ʿAwānah said:
“Al-Aʿmash had some merchandise deposited with me. I would come to him and say, ‘You have gained such-and-such a profit, and such-and-such a profit, even though I have not so much as moved the goods.’
Muhammad ibn Hārūn narrated to us; Nuʿaym ibn Ḥammād informed us; Sufyān—from ʿĀṣim—who said, I heard al-Qāsim Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān say:
‘No one is more knowledgeable about the reports of Ibn Masʿūd than al-Aʿmash.’
Nuʿaym added: ‘I heard Ibn al-Mubārak say: I heard al-Aʿmash swear that he would not relate anything to me. He said, “I will not narrate to a group in which this Turk is present.”’
I also heard Jarīr say: ‘We were in the habit of patching things together in the presence of al-Aʿmash, yet none of us had a better memory than Abū Muʿāwiyah.’
And I heard Ibn ʿUyaynah say: ‘I heard al-Aʿmash remark, “Nothing separates us from those people but a curtain.”’
Maḥmūd ibn Ghāylān narrated to us; Abū Nuʿaym said:
‘I heard al-Aʿmash say to Abū Muʿāwiyah, “As for you, you have tied your ram’s head.”’
I say: that is, he had taken from him an ample share of knowledge.
Maḥmūd ibn Ghāylān also narrated to us; Yaḥyā ibn Ādam informed us; Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth informed us: I heard al-Aʿmash say,
‘Whenever I was alone with Abū Isḥāq, he would transmit to us the hadith of ʿAbdullāh fresh, without a speck of dust on it.’
Abū Saʿīd al-Ashajj narrated to us; Ibn Idrīs informed us: he said,
‘I once asked al-Aʿmash about a hadith, and he replied, “I will not answer you until Eid al-Aḍḥā.” So I said, “Then I shall not come to you until Eid al-Aḍḥā.” I waited until both our appointed times arrived, then I went to the mosque. I did not speak to him; I sat in a corner while a group gathered around him, and his son was writing on the ground, “Ask him about such-and-such; ask him about such-and-such.” Whenever a man entered he did not give salām, and whenever he wanted to spit he stepped outside. I said, “Abū Muḥammad, what has happened to your study circle?”
He asked, “Ibn Idrīs?”
I replied, “Yes.”
He then greeted me with a salām the like of which he had never given me before, and questioned me about matters he had never previously raised. He was pleased when an Arab showed a little sharpness.’