, al-Harbī, Isḥāq ibn al-Ḥasan al-Harbī, and a host of others.

Abū Ḥātim said: “Reliable, a leading authority.”

On another occasion he remarked: “Reliable, precise, solid.”⦗1⦘

Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿIjlī said: “ʿAffān—whose kunya is Abū ʿUthmān—is reliable, firmly grounded, a man of the Sunnah. He was in charge of Judge Muʿādh ibn Muʿādh’s investigative briefs. Ten thousand dinars were offered to him on condition that he refrain from declaring a certain man reliable, so that he would pronounce neither ‘upright’ nor ‘otherwise.’ He refused and said, ‘I will not abolish any rightful claim.’

“He used to carry the slips of inquiry to distant places to ask about them. One day he came to Muʿādh with the slips, and they were smeared with nāṭif, a sticky sweet. Muʿādh asked, ‘What is this?’ He replied, ‘I travel far and become hungry, so I took some nāṭif, put it in my sleeve, and ate it.’⦗2⦘

Al-Daghulī related: ‘ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿfar ibn Khāqān al-Marwazī told us, saying: I heard ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī report: Affān came to me at midday and asked, “Do you have anything for us to eat?” I found no bread in my house, no flour, and nothing with which to buy food, so I said, “I have some barley sawiq.” He said, “Bring it out.” I brought it, and he ate heartily. Then he said, “Shall I tell you something remarkable? So-and-so and so-and-so testified before Judge Muʿādh ibn Muʿādh that a man owed four thousand dinars. Muʿādh ordered me to investigate them. The claimant came to me and said, ‘Half of it is yours if you declare my two witnesses upright.’” I replied, “I was embarrassed for your sake.”⦗3⦘

He added, “Affān was responsible for Muʿādh’s investigative dossiers.” He also said, “People said to Muʿādh, ‘What will you do…’”