Abū Zakariyyā went on to say: “He was an authority on Ibn al-Mubārak, having listened to his books time and again. One day he related a chain: ‘Ibn al-Mubārak, from ʿAwf, from Zayd ibn Shurāja.’ Someone said to him, ‘[Do you mean] Shurāḥah?’
He replied, ‘No—ibn Shurāja. I have heard it from Ibn al-Mubārak more than thirty times.’
Abū Zakariyyā added, “And that is the correct form: ibn Shurāja—spelled with the letter jīm (1).”
Abū Dāwūd said: “The most reliable of Ibn al-Mubārak’s disciples are Sufyān ibn Ziyād, then after him Sulaymān, and then ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Shaqīq. ʿAlī heard the books from Ibn al-Mubārak fourteen times (2).”
Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī said: “He is dearer to me than ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Wāqid (3).”
Abū ʿAmmār al-Ḥusayn ibn Ḥurayth said: “I asked al-Shaqīqī, ‘Did you hear Abū Ḥamzah’s Book of Prayer?’
He answered, ‘I did hear it, but one day a donkey brayed and things became confused…’”
(1) Tarikh Baghdad, 11/371; Tahdhib al-Kamal, fol. 963. Al-Bukhari states in his Tarikh, 3/396: “Zayd ibn Sharaha’s report from the Prophet is mursal.” Al-Jarh wa-l-Taʿdil, 3/564, adds: “Zayd ibn Sharaha transmitted only mursal traditions from the Prophet; he was not a Companion. He was a Basran tabiʿi of uncertain seniority. ʿAsim al-Ahwal and ʿAwf al-Aʿrabi narrated from him—this is what I heard my father say.” Ibn Makula writes in al-Ikmal, 5/50: “Spelled with the letter jim: Zayd ibn Sharajah, from whom ʿAwf al-Aʿrabi reports; some spell it with the letter haʾ, but the form with jim is sounder, according to Yahya ibn Maʿin.” The author of al-Mushtabih, 2/393, likewise notes: “With jim: Zayd ibn Sharajah, a shaykh of ʿAwf al-Aʿrabi.” Ibn Nasir al-Din comments in Tawdih al-Mushtabih, 2/101/1: “I found the name in al-Bukhari’s Tarikh, in the handwriting of Abu ’l-Ghanaʾim al-Narsi, with a damma on the first letter and an undotted haʾ, whereas the compiler wrote it with a fatha on the first letter. The correct reading is that given by al-Bukhari: ‘Zayd ibn Sharaha, whose narration from the Prophet is mursal.’ Ibn Makula already highlighted the disagreement, saying: ‘Some spell it with haʾ, but jim is more accurate,’ as Yahya ibn Maʿin affirmed.” Al-Qamus further records: “Zayd ibn Sharajah—pronounced like the word sahaba—was a shaykh of ʿAwf al-Aʿrabi.”
(2) Tarikh Baghdad, 11/371; Tahdhib al-Kamal, fol. 963.
(3) Al-Jarh wa-l-Taʿdil, 6/180.