Muhammad ibn ʿĪsā al-Zajjāj said: “Abu ʿĀṣim narrated to us—from Ibn Jurayj—a hadith. So I asked Abu ʿĀṣim, ‘Did Ibn Jurayj himself mention it?’ He replied, ‘Everything I have narrated to you was narrated to me, and I have never practiced tadlīs (concealing the identity of one’s source) in a hadith at all; I actually pity anyone who engages in tadlīs.’ (1)

Ibn Saʿd said: “Abu ʿĀṣim was reliable and possessed legal insight.” (2)

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khirāsh said: “A book was never seen in his hand.” (3)

Abu Yaʿlā al-Khalīlī mentioned him, saying: “There is unanimous agreement on his asceticism, knowledge, devotion, and precision.” (4)

Al-Bukhārī said: “I heard Abu ʿĀṣim say, ‘Since the moment I understood that backbiting is forbidden, I have never spoken ill of anyone.’” (5)

Abu ʿUbayd al-Ājurrī transmitted—on the authority of Abu Dāwūd—that he said: “Abu ʿĀṣim had committed to memory about one thousand of his finest hadith, and he also had a sense of humor.”

It is said that he was called ‘al-Nabīl’ because an elephant was once brought to Basra and the people went out to see it. Ibn Jurayj asked him, “Why are you not going to look?” He answered, “I find nothing that could replace you.” Ibn Jurayj replied, “You are nabīl (distinguished).”

Others report that Abu ʿĀṣim had a large nose. After marrying a woman and being alone with her, he approached to kiss her. She said, “Move your knee away from my face.” He said, “That is not a knee; it is my nose.”