Yahya ibn Bukayr related: Al-Layth said, “I was in Medina with the pilgrims, and the city was strewn with dung (1), so I would wear two pairs of leather socks; when I reached the gate of the mosque, I would remove one pair and enter.”

Yahya ibn Saʿid al-Ansari said to him, “Do not do that, for you are an imam whose conduct people observe”—meaning that he should not wear one pair of khuffs over another.

Al-Athram said: I heard Abu ʿAbd Allah [Ahmad ibn Hanbal] say, “Among these Egyptians no one is more firmly grounded than al-Layth—neither ʿAmr ibn al-Harith nor anyone else. ʿAmr ibn al-Harith used to be with me, but then I noticed in him some objectionable matters. How sound are the hadith of al-Layth ibn Saʿd!”

He continued to lavish praise on him, whereupon a man said to Abu ʿAbd Allah, “So-and-so has declared him weak.” He replied, “He knows nothing.” (2)

Al-Fadl ibn Ziyad reported that Ahmad [ibn Hanbal] said, “Al-Layth possesses abundant knowledge, and his hadith are sound.” (3)

Ahmad ibn Saʿd al-Zuhri said: I heard Ahmad ibn Hanbal say, “Al-Layth is trustworthy, firmly reliable.”

Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad remark, “Among the Egyptians no one’s hadith are more accurate than those of al-Layth ibn Saʿd; ʿAmr ibn al-Harith approaches his level.”

ʿAbd Allah ibn Ahmad said: I heard my father state, “The soundest transmitter from Saʿid al-Maqburi is al-Layth ibn Saʿd: he clearly distinguishes what he narrates directly from Abu Hurayrah from what he narrates via his father from Abu Hurayrah. He is exceedingly reliable in his narrations.”

Hanbal [ibn Ishaq] said: Ahmad was asked, “Do you prefer Ibn Abi Dhiʿb in his narrations from al-Maqburi, or