Aḥmad ibn Abī ʿAwf said: Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Ḥulwānī narrated to us: I heard Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn say, “ʿAffān, Bahz, and Ḥabbān used to come to me regularly. Of the three, ʿAffān was the most exact in ḥadith and the most exacting. I once tested them on a point, and none of them detected it except ʿAffān.” (1)

Abū Dāwūd remarked, “ʿAffān is more reliable than Ḥabbān.” (2)

Ḥassān ibn Ḥasan al-Mujāshiʿī (3) reports that Ibn al-Madīnī said—in ʿAffān’s own words—“I never heard a ḥadith from anyone without later reading it back to him, except Shuʿbah, for he never allowed me the opportunity.”

When ʿAffān was mentioned in Ibn al-Madīnī’s presence, he said, “How can I describe a man who, when he doubts a single letter, strikes out five entire lines?”

I also heard ʿAlī say, quoting ʿAbd al-Raḥmān: “We came to Abū ʿAwānah, who asked, ‘Who is at the door?’ We answered, ‘ʿAffān, Bahz, and Ḥabbān.’ He replied, ‘Those fellows are a real trial! They have already heard the material and now they want to read it back.’” (4)

Aḥmad said, “ʿAffān would listen to ḥadith in the morning and review it with the teacher in the evening.” (5)

Al-Zaʿfarānī relates: I asked Aḥmad, “Who corroborates ʿAffān on such-and-such a report?” He replied, “And does ʿAffān need a corroborator?!” (6)

Aḥmad also said, “Who is completely safe from scribal slips? Even Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd used to add vowel-marks….”