Ibn Abī al-Wazīr transmits from Mālik that, when Ibn ʿAjlān was mentioned in his presence, he spoke of him in favorable terms.
Abū Muḥammad al-Rāmahurmuzī relates: ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us; al-Qāsim ibn Naṣr narrated to us; I heard Khalaf ibn Sālim say that Yaḥyā al-Qaṭṭān narrated to me:
“I arrived in Kūfa while Ibn ʿAjlān was there, and among the scholars being sought out were Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth, Maliyḥ ibn Wakīʿ (1), and Ibn Idrīs.
“I said, ‘Let us visit Ibn ʿAjlān.’
“Yūsuf al-Samti remarked, ‘Let us turn his ḥadith upside down—swap the chains—so that we can test his understanding.’
“So they did. Whatever was actually from his father they presented as being from Abū Hurayrah himself, and whatever was from al-Maqburī on the authority of Abū Hurayrah they presented as being from his father on the authority of Abū Hurayrah.
“They entered and questioned him, and he narrated accordingly. When they reached the end of the notebook he realized what had happened and said, ‘Repeat it.’
“They repeated it for him, and he said, ‘Everything you asked me on the authority of his father was narrated to me by Saʿīd, and everything you asked me on the authority of Saʿīd was narrated to me by my father.’
“Then he turned to Yūsuf ibn Khālid and said, ‘If you intended to disgrace and fault me, may Allah strip you of Islam.’ He turned to Ḥafṣ and said, ‘May Allah afflict you in your religion and in your worldly life.’ Then he turned to the third man and said, ‘May Allah cause your knowledge to be of no benefit to you.’”
Yaḥyā al-Qaṭṭān continued: “Maliyḥ ibn Wakīʿ died and his knowledge brought him no benefit; Ḥafṣ was stricken with paralysis and burdened with the judgeship; and Yūsuf did not die before being accused of zandaqa (2).”
This story, however, is open to criticism. I do not know who this ʿAbd Allāh is, and Maliyḥ is an unknown figure. Moreover, Wakīʿ ibn al-Jarāḥ had no son pursuing knowledge in the days of Ibn ʿAjlān, and the practice of flipping isnāds (chains of transmission) on the shaykhs did not appear until after the year 200 AH.
A report is also narrated from Ibn ʿAjlān, from