I add: he himself uttered words to that effect, and he had kept the company of Yahya al-Qattan and ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi, and travelled side by side with Ibn al-Madini.

‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi said, “Abu Dawud is the most truthful of men.”

I remark: the two of them were companions in the pursuit of knowledge at Basra. Both of them took baladhur, whereupon Abu Dawud contracted leprosy, while the other developed vitiligo.

Ahmad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-‘Ijli said, “I travelled—meaning from Kufa—to visit Abu Dawud, but found that he had died one day before my arrival. He had drunk baladhur and so became leprous.” (1)

‘Amir ibn Ibrahim al-Asbahani related, “I heard Abu Dawud say, ‘I have written hadith from one thousand shaykhs.’”

It is also reported from Abu Dawud that he could recite from memory thirty thousand hadith.

Sulayman ibn Harb said, “When Shu‘bah finished narrating and rose, Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi would sit down and, relying solely on his memory, dictate everything that had just been mentioned in the session.” (2)

‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Hatim transmitted from Yunus ibn Habib, who said:

Abu Dawud recounted, “We were in Baghdad, and Shu‘bah and Ibn Idris used to gather together to review narrations. They once discussed the chapter on the leper. So I said, ‘Ibn Abi al-Zinad narrated to us from his father, from Kharijah ibn Zayd that Mu‘ayqib used to attend the meals of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab. ‘Umar said to him, “O Mu‘ayqib, eat from what is right in front of you.”’

At that Shu‘bah said, ‘O Abu Dawud! You have not brought …’