Likewise, Ḥajjāj ibn Minhāl and Hudbah ibn Khālid follow this practice. In contrast, Sulaymān ibn Ḥarb—and ʿĀrim as well—do the reverse: whenever either of them says, “Hammād narrated to us,” he means Hammād ibn Zayd. Whenever Mūsā al-Tabūdhakī says, “Hammād narrated to us,” he intends Hammād ibn Salamah; that is his transmission—Allah knows best.

A similar overlap occurs with the two Sufyāns. The disciples of Sufyān al-Thawrī are the older, senior transmitters, whereas the disciples of Ibn ʿUyaynah are younger men who never met al-Thawrī, so the distinction is clearer. Thus, whenever you see one of the early authorities narrating and he says, “Sufyān narrated to us,” without naming him, he means al-Thawrī. Such narrators include Wakīʿ, Ibn Mahdī, al-Firyābī, and Abū Nuʿaym. If any of them relates from Ibn ʿUyaynah, he will state so explicitly.

By contrast, a narrator who did not meet al-Thawrī but did meet Ibn ʿUyaynah has no need to specify, for there is no ambiguity. Therefore, you must become familiar with the various tiers of transmitters.

By His—exalted is He—aid and tawfīq, the seventh volume of Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ is now complete. The eighth volume follows, opening with the biography of Yaḥyā ibn Ayyūb al-Ghāfiqī.