Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Bushanjī said: “Yaḥyá al-Himmānī narrated to us, Ahmad ibn Hanbal narrated to us, Isḥāq al-Azraq …,” and he mentioned a hadith about al-ibrād of the Zuhr prayer—that is, delaying it until the noon heat has abated. (1)

Hanbal said: “I returned from Kūfa and said to Abū ʿAbd Allāh, ‘Yaḥyá al-Himmānī has narrated to us from you the hadith of Isḥāq al-Azraq.’ He replied, ‘I do not recall ever relating it to him; perhaps he retained it from a study session.’” (2)

Al-Marwadhī asked Ahmad the same question, and Ahmad denied having narrated it, saying, “Tell Hārūn the porter to strike out the hadith of Yaḥyá al-Himmānī.” (3)

Abū ʿUbayd al-Ājūrrī relates from Abū Dāwūd: “Yaḥyá al-Himmānī transmitted from Ahmad the hadith of Isḥāq al-Azraq, but Ahmad disavowed it. Yaḥyá protested, ‘Ahmad narrated it to us at the doorway of Ibn ʿUlayyah.’ Ahmad replied, ‘We did not hear it from Isḥāq until after Ismāʿīl had died.’” (4)

Abū Dāwūd then said: “He was a strong memoriser. I asked Ahmad about him, and he said, ‘Did you not see him?’ I replied, ‘Indeed.’ He said, ‘When you see him, you will know his true standing.’” (5)