Ibn al-Madini said, “I asked Yahya about the reports transmitted by ‘Ikrimah ibn ‘Ammar from Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, and he replied, ‘They are not sound.’ (1)

Al-Fallas narrates from Yahya:

“I, along with Khalid ibn al-Harith and Mu‘adh ibn Mu‘adh—who never outstripped me in anything, meaning in knowledge—used to go to Ibn ‘Awn. They would sit and write, whereas I would come back and write what I had heard once I was at home.” (2)

Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Sa‘id relates that his father said:

“I would leave the house in search of hadith and would not return until after the late-night (‘atamah) prayer.”

I say: Yahya ibn Sa‘id was extremely exacting in his assessment of narrators (3). So if you find that he has declared a shaykh reliable, rely upon that verdict. But if he has deemed someone weak, proceed with caution until you see what others have said about him; for he weakened narrators such as Isra’il and Hammam, among others—both of whom were actually employed as proof by the Two Shaykhs.

He also composed a work on weak transmitters that I have not personally seen; Ibn Hazm and others quote from it. His critical remarks likewise appear in the questions addressed to him by ‘Ali, Abu Hafs al-Sayrafi, and Ibn Ma‘in.

‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Umar Rustah said: I heard ‘Ali ibn ‘Abd Allah say, “We were with Yahya ibn Sa‘id. When he left the mosque, we went out with him. When he reached the gate of his house he stopped, and we stopped with him. Then al-Rubi came up to him…”