…for Imam Abu Hanifa, whether under the letter N or in the section of kunyahs. Some scholars likewise consulted a copy of al-Mizan kept in the National Library of Rabat and did not find a biography of Imam Abu Hanifa there either. That manuscript is regarded as both reliable and rare, for several well-known scholars read it to the author himself. As for what is reported from al-Nasai and Ibn Adi about declaring Abu Hanifa weak on the grounds of defective memory, such a judgement is inadmissible when set beside the explicit authentication issued by the great hadith critics—among them: Ali ibn al-Madini, Yahya ibn Maʿin, Shuʿbah, Israʾil ibn Yunus, Yahya ibn Adam, Ibn Dawud al-Khuraybi, al-Hasan ibn Salih, and others. All of these authorities were contemporaries of Abu Hanifa or very close to his time. They knew him best, and better than al-Nasai, Ibn Adi, or other scholars who lived much later—such as al-Daraqutni, born two hundred years after Abu Hanifa’s death. The verdict of the earlier, better-informed critics therefore merits acceptance, while the opinion of those distant in time deserves to be set aside. Shaykh Ibn Hajar al-Makki records in al-Khairat al-Hisan (p. 34) the statement of Shuʿbah ibn al-Hajjaj concerning Abu Hanifa: “By Allah, he was sharp in understanding and excellent in memory.” This is a clear, authoritative affirmation of his strong memorisation, issued by a scholar renowned for leadership, piety, and strictness in evaluating transmitters. In light of this sound testimony, every claim—ancient or modern—voiced by the biased or the resentful about any weakness in the memory of this great imam collapses entirely.