Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Qaṭṭān would complete a full recitation of the Qur’an every single day and night (1), invoke blessings for a thousand people, then go out after the late-afternoon (ʿAṣr) prayer to relate hadith to the public.

Ibn Khuzaymah said, “I heard Bundar say, ‘I kept company with Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd for more than twenty years. I do not think he ever disobeyed Allah, and he had no concern for worldly matters at all.’”

ʿAbbās al-Dūrī relates: “I heard Yaḥyā (meaning Ibn Maʿīn) say, ‘Yaḥyā al-Qaṭṭān once told me, “If I were to narrate only from those with whom I am completely satisfied, I would narrate from no more than five men.”’”

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Bishr al-Talqānī said, “I heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal declare, ‘Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd is the most accurate of all transmitters.’”

Jaʿfar ibn Abān, the ḥāfiẓ, said: “I asked Abū al-Walīd al-Ṭayālisī about Khālid ibn al-Ḥārith and about Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Qaṭṭān. He replied, ‘Yaḥyā has far more narrations than he does, though Khālid is trustworthy and possesses a written compilation.’ A man then remarked, ‘No one in Baṣrah after Shuʿbah was the equal of Khālid.’ He answered, ‘And Shuʿbah excelled in what Yaḥyā excels.’ I asked, ‘Who, in your view, has more hadith—Yaḥyā or ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī? There are some who give precedence to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān over him.’ He replied, ‘They are not being fair; Yaḥyā is senior to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān.’”

From Abū ʿAwanah: “If you are seeking hadith, you must go to Yaḥyā al-Qaṭṭān.” A man asked him, “What about Ḥammād ibn Zayd?” He answered, “Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd is our teacher.”

Aḥmad ibn Saʿīd al-Dārimī said, “I heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal say, ‘I never wrote…’”}