Shuʿayb?’
They answered, ‘He is running a fever.’

Al-Layth thereupon stood up, gave the adhān, followed it with the iqāmah, then stepped forward and began the prayer. He recited: “By the sun and its morning brightness…” and ended with, “so he feared not the consequences thereof.” ⦗1⦘

That very wording is found in the muṣḥafs of the people of Madinah, though the scholars of Iraq say it slipped in through a copyist’s error. Al-Layth used to pronounce the basmalah aloud and would give the closing salām while facing straight ahead. ⦗2⦘

Al-Fasawī relates: Ibn Bukayr said, ‘I often heard al-Layth say, “I am older than Ibn Lahīʿah—praise be to Allah who has preserved our sanity.”’ ⦗3⦘

Ibn Bukayr also said: Shuʿayb ibn al-Layth narrated to me, from his father, who said, ‘When I took leave of Abū Jaʿfar in Jerusalem he remarked, “What has impressed me most is the keenness of your intellect. Praise be to Allah who has placed someone like you among my subjects.”’

Shuʿayb added, ‘My father used to say, “Do not report this so long as I remain alive.”’ ⦗4⦘

Qutaybah said, ‘Al-Layth was three years older than Ibn Lahīʿah, yet if you looked at them you would say, “That one is the son and that one the father”—meaning that Ibn Lahīʿah appeared the elder.’ ⦗5⦘

When Ibn Lahīʿah’s books were destroyed by fire, al-Layth sent him one thousand dinars the very next morning. ⦗6⦘

Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Ashajj said: Qutaybah was asked, ‘Who provided you with these …’