that has three wings; tell me where the third wing is attached, so that I may understand.’

The youth said, ‘O Abū Saʿīd, we have been unable to describe a created being; I call you to witness that I have conceded and withdrawn.’

Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī said: “Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal was asked about Yaḥyā and Ibn Mahdī, and he replied, ‘Ibn Mahdī has transmitted more hadith.’ (1)

Aḥmad al-ʿIjlī said: “ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī drank baladhur (2), and so did al-Ṭayālisī; ʿAbd al-Raḥmān developed vitiligo, while the other contracted leprosy.”

It was said to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, ‘Which do you prefer: that a sin of yours be forgiven, or that you memorize a hadith?’ He answered, ‘That I memorize a hadith.’

Abū al-Rabīʿ al-Zahrānī reported: ‘I heard Jarīr al-Rāzī say, “I have never seen the like of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī…,” and he went on to extol his remarkable memory and insight in hadith. (3)

Nuʿaym ibn Ḥammād said: ‘I asked ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī, “How do you recognize a liar?” He replied, “Just as a physician recognizes a madman.” (4)

Muḥammad ibn Abī Ṣafwān said: ‘I heard ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī say, “If …”’