It is also transmitted through several chains from Yūnus ibn ʿUbayd that he said, “I have never seen any man from Kufa superior to Sufyān.”

Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ narrated: Abū Yaḥyā al-Ḥimmānī told us—he had heard Abū Ḥanīfah say, “Had Sufyān al-Thawrī lived among the Tābiʿīn (the Successors to the Companions), he would have occupied a remarkable station among them.”
Abū Ḥanīfah also said, “If ʿAlqamah and al-Aswad were alive today, they would still find themselves in need of Sufyān.”

Ḍamrah related from al-Muthannā ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ, who said, “Sufyān is the scholar of the ummah and its devoted worshipper.”

Abū Dāwūd al-Ḥafarī transmitted from Ibn Abī Dhiʾb, who declared, “I have never seen anyone who more closely resembled the early Successors than Sufyān al-Thawrī.”

Abū Qaṭan reported from Shuʿbah: “Sufyān gained pre-eminence over the people through his warʿ (scrupulous piety) and his knowledge.”
Yaʿqūb al-Ḥaḍramī said, “I heard Shuʿbah remark, ‘Sufyān is the Commander of the Faithful in ḥadīth.’”

Ibn ʿUyaynah stated, “I have never seen anyone more knowledgeable about what is lawful and unlawful than Sufyān al-Thawrī.”

Nuʿaym ibn Ḥammād narrated from Ibn Wahb, who said, “I have never encountered the like of Sufyān al-Thawrī.”

Ibn al-Mubārak remarked, “Whenever someone was praised to me and I later met him, I found him below the description—except for Sufyān al-Thawrī.”

Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal said, “Ibn ʿUyaynah told me, ‘You will not set eyes on anyone comparable to Sufyān al-Thawrī for the rest of your life.’”

ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Shaqīq reported from ʿAbd Allāh, who said, “I do not know anyone on earth more learned than Sufyān.”

Hafṣ ibn Ghiyāth added, “We have never met anyone like Sufyān, nor found company more beneficial than sitting with him.”