Abbas al-Duri said, “I heard Yahya speak about the report of Abu al-Yaman—through Shuʿayb, from al-Zuhri, from ʿUqbah ibn Suwayd, from Abu Hurayrah—that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘An army will march against the Kaʿbah.’ Yahya remarked, ‘It is in fact only from Suhaym, the freedman of Abu Hurayrah, from Abu Hurayrah.’ (1)

Abu Hatim said: “Abu al-Yaman was called ‘the scribe of Ismaʿil ibn ʿAyyash,’ just as Abu Salih was called ‘the scribe of al-Layth.‘ He is trustworthy, eminent, and truthful.” (2)

Al-ʿIjli added: “There is no harm in him.” (3)

Ibn ʿAmmar al-Mawsili said: “He was reliable and resided in Salamiyyah. (4) Whenever people of hadith came to him he would say, ‘Gather some saffron for me’—for saffron grew there—so they would pick it and then he would relate hadith to them.” (5)

Muhammad ibn ʿIsa al-Tarsusi said: “I heard Abu al-Yaman say, ‘I once went to Malik, and I saw among his attendants and the furnishings something astonishing. I said to myself, “This does not befit the character of scholars,” so I left him and walked away; afterward I regretted it.’” (6)