Abū Saʿīd narrated to us; Abū Khālid informed us:

We were sitting with al-Aʿmash when they asked him about a particular hadith. He turned to Ibn al-Mukhtār and said, “Do you see any of the hadith-students here?” Ibn al-Mukhtār shut his eyes and replied, “I see no one at all, Abū Muḥammad, so relate it.”

Abū Saʿīd also told me; Abū Khālid al-Aḥmar informed us—I heard al-Aʿmash say:

“What do you make of a one-eyed man wearing a qabāʾ (robe) and a flower-patterned mantle, sitting among the police?”—meaning Ibrāhīm.

Abū Saʿīd al-Ashajj narrated to me; Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā al-Juʿfī related to me, from Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth, who said:

During the days of Zayd it was said to al-Aʿmash, “Why do you not go out (and join the uprising)?” He replied, “Woe to you! By Allah, I do not know anyone for whose sake I would jeopardise my honour—so how could I jeopardise my religion for him?!”

Abū Saʿīd narrated to me; Ibn Numayr informed us, from al-Aʿmash, who said:

I used to visit Mujāhid, and he would say, “If I were able to walk, I would have come to you.”

Muḥammad ibn Yazīd narrated to us; Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh informed us; Mughīrah related:

When Ibrāhīm died, I began frequenting al-Aʿmash for instruction in the laws of inheritance (al-farāʾiḍ).

Ibn Zanjawayh narrated to me; Nuʿaym ibn Ḥammād informed us; ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus related from al-Aʿmash, who said:

Whenever I hear a hadith, I look to see what may rightly be taken from it; I take that portion and leave the rest.

Wakīʿ said:

They once came to al-Aʿmash; he came out and remarked, “Had there not been someone in my house whom I detest even more than I detest you, I would not have come out to meet you.”

It is reported that Abū Dāwūd the Weaver asked al-Aʿmash, “Abū Muḥammad, what is your ruling on praying behind a weaver?” He answered, “There is no harm in it—even without ablution.” Abū Dāwūd then asked, “And what about his testimony?” He replied, “It will be accepted if two upright witnesses accompany it.”

Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿIjlī said: “Al-Aʿmash is trustworthy and firmly grounded; in his time he was the leading traditionist of Kūfah.

It is said that some four thousand hadiths were known through him, yet he possessed no written book.

He used to teach the Qur’an and was a foremost authority in its recitation; he was also eloquent.

And his father was among the captives