We have been told that Abu al-Yaman copied the entire corpus of Ismaʿil ibn ʿAyyash, leaving none of it on loose scrolls.

In the two Sahihs there are nearly forty traditions that al-Bukhari transmits from Abu al-Yaman. Muslim likewise records them, but through al-Darimi, from Abu al-Yaman. In every one of those reports he says, “Shuʿayb informed us,” and never once, “He narrated to us.” This makes it plain that the transmission was by written authorization (ijazah); they were taken with certainty from Shuʿayb’s own handwriting, and Shuʿayb was among al-Zuhri’s most reliable disciples.

The sole purpose of transmission is the knowledge thereby gained that a given narrator related the report—no matter which mode of delivery was employed.

Abu al-Yaman was the foremost scholar of his time in Hims. Al-Maʾmun summoned him to appoint him as the city’s judge.

We have also transmitted through a strong chain that Abu al-Yaman said, “I was born in the year 138 AH.” (1)

Muhammad ibn Musaffa, Abu Zurʿah al-Nasri, and al-Fasawi said that Abu al-Yaman died in 221 AH. (2)

Ibn Saʿd, al-Bukhari, and Mutayyin placed his death in 222 AH, and Ibn Saʿd added that it occurred in Dhu al-Hijjah, at Hims. (3)