Abu Muʿīn al-Rāzī reported—on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn—that he said:
“Shuʿbah treated Baqiyyah with marked respect when the latter arrived in Baghdad.”

ʿAbdullāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal said: My father was asked about Baqiyyah and Ismāʿīl. He replied:
“Baqiyyah is dearer to me; but whenever he relates from people who are not well-known, do not accept what he transmits.”

Aḥmad ibn Zuhayr said: Ibn Maʿīn was asked about Baqiyyah and answered:
“If he narrates from reliable transmitters such as Ṣafwān ibn ʿAmr and others, then fine. If, however, he reports from those unknown individuals, then no. And if he mentions a man only by his kunya or withholds his name, the report is worthless.”
He was then asked, “Which of the two is more firmly established—he or Ismāʿīl?” He replied, “Both of them are sound.”

Yaʿqūb ibn Shaybah—citing Aḥmad ibn al-ʿAbbās—heard Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn say:
“Baqiyyah narrates from someone younger than himself, and he possesses two thousand authentic ḥadiths traced back to Shuʿbah; he used to review fiqh with Shuʿbah.”

Abū Nuʿaym told me: “Baqiyyah was stingy with his narrations from the trustworthy. I asked him for Ṣafwān’s collection, and he said, ‘Ṣafwān’s collection?’”

Ibn Maʿīn then remarked: “He would relate one hundred ḥadiths from weak transmitters before narrating a single ḥadith from a reliable one.”