Abu Shihab al-Hannat reported: “Sufyan’s sister sent me to him in Mecca with a pouch that contained kaʿk and khushkanan (1). When I reached the city I asked where he was, and I was told, ‘He sometimes sits at the Kaʿbah on the side where the grain-sellers are.’

I went there and found him lying down. I greeted him, but he neither questioned me as he used to nor returned my greeting in the manner I knew from him. So I said, ‘Your sister has sent a pouch with me.’

He sat up at once and said, ‘Bring it quickly.’ I spoke to him about his manner, and he replied, ‘Abu Shihab, do not blame me; it has been three days since I have tasted anything.’ So I excused him.

Ibn Saʿd said: When Sufyan feared arrest in Mecca, he left for Basra and lodged near the house of Yahya ibn Saʿid. Yahya moved him next door and opened a doorway between their houses; he would bring the hadith scholars of Basra to visit Sufyan, greet him, and hear from him.

Among those who came to him were Jarir ibn Hazim, Mubarak ibn Fadala, Hammad ibn Salamah, Marhum the perfumer, and Hammad ibn Zayd. ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi also came and remained attached to him.

Abu ʿAwanah used to greet Sufyan in Mecca, but Sufyan never returned the greeting. When someone spoke to him about that, he said, ‘I do not know him.’

When Sufyan realized that his whereabouts had become widely known, he said to Yahya, ‘Move me.’ Yahya relocated him to the house of al-Haytham ibn Mansur, where he stayed. Hammad ibn Zayd then spoke to him about keeping away from the authorities, saying, ‘This is the behavior of the people of innovation and of what one fears from them.’

Sufyan and Hammad therefore agreed to go to Baghdad. Sufyan wrote to Caliph al-Mahdi and to the vizier Yaʿqub ibn Dawud, beginning the letter with his own name. It was said to him, ‘They will be angered by that,’ so he began the next letter with their names. A reply arrived that contained everything he liked—honor, nearness, and assurance that they would listen and obey. He prepared to set out, but he fell ill with a fever; death approached, and he became anxious.

Marhum ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz said to him, ‘Why this anxiety? You are about to meet the Lord you have been worshipping.’ Sufyan calmed down and said, ‘See whether any of our companions are here…’

(1) A dry, biscuit-like pastry.