and anyone else is not an authoritative source. (1)

Ibn Abi Hatim said: ʿAbbas ibn al-Walid narrated to us; he said, “I heard Abu Mushir say:
‘I strove hard to gather the knowledge of al-Awzaʿi. I even wrote down thirteen notebooks from Ismaʿil ibn Samaʿah, but when I met your father I found with him knowledge that the others did not have.’ (2)

Ahmad ibn Abi al-Hawari said: I heard Abu Mushir report that al-Awzaʿi said, ‘Hold fast to the books of al-Walid ibn Mazyad, for they are sound.’ (3)

Abu Yusuf ibn al-Safar said: I heard al-Awzaʿi state, ‘No book that has been shown to me is more accurate than the books of al-Walid ibn Mazyad.’ (4)

Al-Nasa’i said: ‘With regard to narrations from al-Awzaʿi, al-Walid ibn Mazyad is dearer to us than al-Walid ibn Muslim; he neither errs nor practices tadlis.’ (5)

Ahmad ibn Abi al-Hawari also said: I heard al-Walid ibn Mazyad say, ‘Whoever eats to satisfy a craving, even though the food is lawful, his heart becomes hard.’

Abu Mushir observed: ‘Al-Walid ibn Mazyad was trustworthy, though he did not rely on memorisation; his books, however, are sound.’

ʿAbbas (6) said: ‘My father died in the year 203 AH, at the age of seventy-seven.’