Hammād said, “It was never my intention to relate ḥadīth until Ayyūb al-Sakhtiyānī said to me in a dream, ‘Narrate.’

Ḥātim ibn al-Layth transmitted: Mūsā ibn Ismāʿīl told us; Ḥammād ibn Zayd told us:
“In those days we never went to anyone with the purpose of learning something—apart from Ḥammād ibn Salamah.”

Abū Shaykh related: al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad the merchant told us; Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī told us:
“I heard one of our companions say: Ḥammād ibn Salamah visited Sufyān al-Thawrī. Sufyān said, ‘Abū Salamah, do you think Allah will forgive someone like me?’ Ḥammād replied, ‘By Allah, if I were given the choice between being called to account by Allah or by my own parents, I would choose Allah, for He is more merciful to me than my parents.’”

Al-Mufaḍḍal al-Ghalābī narrated: Quraysh ibn Anas, from Ḥammād ibn Salamah, who said:
“It was never part of my practice to transmit at all until I saw Ayyūb in a dream; he said to me, ‘Narrate, for the people will come to you.’ (1)

Isḥāq ibn al-Jarrāḥ reported: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥajjāj told us:
“There was a man who attended ḥadīth with us at the sessions of Ḥammād ibn Salamah. He travelled to China, and when he returned he offered Ḥammād a gift. Ḥammād said to him (2), ‘If I accept it, I will not relate any ḥadīth to you; if I decline it, I will narrate to you.’ The man replied, ‘Do not accept it, and relate to me.’”

Ibn Ḥibbān said: “Ḥammād ibn Salamah al-Khazzāz—Abū Ḥammād’s teknonym is Abū Ṣakhrah—was the client of Ḥumayd ibn Karrātah. It is also said that he was the client of Quraysh (3). Others said he was a Himyarite, one of the devout worshippers whose prayers were answered at special times. Whoever (4) turned away from his ḥadīth and instead cited Abū— as evidence has not been fair.”