He also said on another occasion, “Whatever he relates from the Syrians is the soundest,” and Abu Bishr al-Dhulabi voiced the same opinion.

Ahmad ibn Abi al-Hawari reported: “I heard Wakiʿ say, ‘Ismaʿil ibn ʿAyyash arrived among us and copied from me several narrations of Ismaʿil ibn Abi Khalid, but I noticed that he was jumbling them as he copied.’ ”

Abu Ishaq al-Juzajani said: “I asked Abu Mushir about Ismaʿil ibn ʿAyyash and Baqiyyah. He answered, ‘Each of them takes from narrators who are not reliable; if you take their hadith only from trustworthy transmitters, then he is reliable.’ ”

Al-Juzajani added: “I said to Abu al-Yaman, ‘I can liken the hadith of Ismaʿil ibn ʿAyyash only to the garments of Sabur: the cloth is stamped with the figure one hundred, yet the cheapest piece sells for less than ten dirhams.’ ”

He continued, “He was among the most prolific of people in transmitting from liars, yet in his reports from trustworthy narrators among the Syrians he is better than he is in what he relates from others.”

ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Abi Hatim said: “I asked my father about the hadith of Ismaʿil ibn ʿAyyash. He replied, ‘He is lenient—his hadith may be written down. I know of no one who refrained from him except Abu (1) Ishaq al-Fazari.’ ”

Muslim related: “Abu Muhammad al-Darimi narrated to us, Zakariyya ibn ʿAdi narrated to us, who said: Abu Ishaq al-Fazari told me, ‘Record from Baqiyyah whatever he reports from recognized narrators, but do not record from him what he reports from the unknown; and do not record anything from Ismaʿil ibn ʿAyyash, whether he narrates from recognized narrators or from others.’ ”

Abu Salih al-Farraʾ said: “I asked Abu Ishaq al-Fazari, ‘Shall I write from…’