Ahmad ibn Salamah said, “I heard Ishaq ibn Ibrahim say, ‘The day Yahya ibn Yahya passed away, he died while being the imam of the whole world.’ (1)
Abu al-‘Abbas al-Sarraj said, ‘I heard al-Husayn ibn ‘Abdash—who was trustworthy—say: I heard Muhammad ibn Aslam say, “I saw the Prophet ﷺ in a dream, so I asked, ‘From whom should I record hadith?’ He replied, ‘From Yahya ibn Yahya.’” (2)
Khushnam ibn Sa‘id said, ‘I heard Ahmad ibn Hanbal say, “In my view Yahya ibn Yahya was an imam; had I possessed the means, I would have travelled to him.”’
Muhammad ibn Ya‘qub al-Akhram said, ‘I heard Yahya ibn Muhammad say, “Whenever my father encountered a difficult issue he would refer it to Yahya ibn Yahya, saying, ‘Between me and Allah, he is an imam.’”’
Abu al-Tayyib al-Makfuf said, ‘I heard Ishaq say, “I never wrote from anyone in whom I placed more confidence than Yahya ibn Yahya and al-Fadl ibn Musa; and Yahya’s hadith are superior to those of Ibn al-Mubarak.” I asked, “Why is that?” He replied, “Because Yahya divulged from his knowledge only what ought to be disclosed and withheld what ought to be withheld.”’
Al-Athram said, ‘I heard Ahmad ibn Hanbal mention Yahya ibn Yahya and exclaim, “Bravo! Bravo!” He then mentioned Qutaybah, praised him, and added, “Yet Yahya ibn Yahya is something else altogether.”’
Ibn Mahmish said, ‘Abu ‘Uthman ‘Amr ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Basri informed us; Abu Ahmad al-Farraʾ narrated to us: I heard al-Husayn ibn Mansur say, “We were with Ahmad…”’