narrates hadith in a town where someone more entitled to transmit than he is already resides is a fool. And if ever you see me relating hadith in a place where a man of the calibre of Abū Mushir is present, then my beard deserves to be shaved off.⦗1⦘

The second section was transmitted by Aḥmad ibn Abī al-Ḥawārī, also from Yaḥyā.⦗2⦘

Muḥammad ibn ʿĀʾidh, reporting from Ibn Maʿīn, said: “Since I left al-Anbār until I returned, I did not see anyone comparable to Abū Mushir.”⦗3⦘

Abū Ḥātim said: Aḥmad ibn Abī al-Ḥawārī narrated to us, “I heard Ibn Maʿīn say, ‘Since I departed from my homeland, I have not met anyone who more closely resembled the senior scholars I encountered than Abū Mushir.’”⦗4⦘

Fayyaḍ ibn Zuhayr said: I heard Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn declare, “Every Syrian whom Abū Mushir has deemed reliable is indeed reliable.”⦗5⦘

Abū Zurʿah of Damascus said: Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal told me, “Among you there are three hadith scholars: al-Walīd, Marwān ibn Muḥammad, and Abū Mushir.”⦗6⦘

Abū Dāwūd said: I heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal remark, “May Allah have mercy on Abū Mushir—how sound his transmissions were!” and he went on praising him at length.⦗7⦘