was austere—indeed, the most exacting man on earth. If you had the written text with you, he would say, “Read it,” and if you had no text, then it had to be entirely from memory.

I said to Yaḥyā, “How did you manage in that situation?” He replied, “I would commit the reports to memory and write them down.”

Abū Isḥāq al-Jawzajānī said: I asked Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, “As for Ibn Abī Dhiʿb’s hearing from al-Zuhri, was it by ʿarḍ (the student’s recitation to the teacher)?” He answered, “He was not particular how it took place.” I remarked: With that statement he was being lenient toward him regarding al-Zuhri, for Ibn Abī Dhiʿb is not a first-rate transmitter from al-Zuhri.

Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī al-Abbār said: I asked Muṣʿab about Ibn Abī Dhiʿb, and he replied, “Allah forbid that he was a Qadari. What happened is that, in the days of al-Mahdī, the authorities rounded up the Qadariyyah, beat them and exiled them. Some of them came to Ibn Abī Dhiʿb, sat with him, and sought protection through him from the beating. Because of that people said, ‘He is a Qadari.’ Someone I trust has told me that he never spoke on the issue at all.”

It is reported from Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal that, when he was asked about Ibn Abī Dhiʿb, he declared him reliable but was not satisfied with his narrations from al-Zuhri.

Al-Faḍl ibn Ziyād said: Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal was asked, “Which of the two do you prefer, Ibn ʿAjlān or Ibn Abī Dhiʿb?” He replied, “Both are trustworthy.”

Ibn Abī Dhiʿb travelled to Baghdad, where the scholars received knowledge from him, and al-Mahdī presented him with fine gold. He was then sent back to his homeland, but death overtook him as a stranger in Kūfah, in 159 AH.

Al-Baghawī said: I heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal say, “Ibn Abī Dhiʿb was a righteous man who spoke the truth; he was likened to Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib. He narrated only a small number of hadiths.”

Abū al-Ḥasan ibn al-Bukhārī and others informed us in writing; they said: “ʿUmar ibn Muḥammad narrated to us …”