anything, the report is strong—meaning Sufyān and Abū Ḥanīfa.

ʿAlī ibn Mus-hir narrated from Sufyān that he said, “The foremost preservers among the people are four: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Anṣārī, Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abī Sulaymān, and ʿĀṣim al-Aḥwal.”
I asked, “And al-Aʿmash?”
He refused to place him with them.

Aḥmad ibn Yūnus said, “I heard Zāʾidah; when Sufyān was mentioned in his presence he remarked, ‘He is the most learned jurist on earth.’”

Wakīʿ reported from Shuʿbah, who said, “Sufyān’s memory surpasses mine.”

Ibn Ḥumayd related: “I heard Mihrān al-Rāzī say, ‘I had copied all of Sufyān al-Thawrī’s works, but I lost the Book of Blood-Money. I told him about it and he said, “When you find me free, remind me so I may dictate it to you.”’

“He later set out for the pilgrimage. Once he entered Mecca, he circumambulated the House, walked between Ṣafā and Marwah, then lay down. I reminded him, and he began dictating the book to me, chapter after chapter, until he had given it to me in full from memory.”

Al-Zaʿfarānī said, “I heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal ask ʿAffān, ‘Which of the two makes more mistakes, Sufyān or Shuʿbah?’
He answered, ‘Shuʿbah—by a great deal.’
Aḥmad added, ‘In the names of narrators.’”

ʿAbd al-Razzāq reported: “I heard Sufyān say, ‘Ask me about the knowledge of the Quran and about the rites of pilgrimage, for I am well-versed in both.’”

Abū Qudāmah said, “I heard Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd say, ‘What I wrote from Sufyān on the authority of al-Aʿmash is dearer to me than what I wrote directly from al-Aʿmash.’”

Ibrāhīm ibn Abī al-Layth said, “I heard al-Ashjaʿī say, ‘I heard thirty thousand hadiths from al-Thawrī.’”

Yaḥyā al-Qaṭṭān said, “Ibn Abī Khālid died while I was in Kufa, and he sat down beside me…"