Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-Samarqandī reports, through Muḥammad ibn Mubashshir al-Karmīnī (1):

“The pen of Muḥammad ibn Salām al-Bīkandī once broke while he was sitting in a shaykh’s circle. He immediately ordered a public call to be made: ‘A pen for one dinar!’—and pens came flying to him from every side.”

I remark: he was a man of dignity and considerable means.

Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb al-Bīkandī said: I heard ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn relate:

“Muḥammad ibn Salām was in his house when the door was knocked. He went out, and the caller said, ‘Abū ʿAbd Allāh, I am a jinni, the envoy of the king of the jinn to you. He conveys his greetings and says: “No session of yours takes place without our being present in numbers greater than the humans there.”’ ”

Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb added: This story is widely circulated and famous among us.

Muḥammad ibn Salām himself said, “I have not sat in the marketplace of Bīkand for forty years.”

Sahl ibn al-Mutawakkil narrated: I heard Muḥammad ibn Salām say, “I am Muḥammad ibn Salām—with the lighter pronunciation.”

I comment: Both pronunciations have been reported; the heavier form has been mentioned but is not firmly established (2).

Muḥammad ibn Salām also traveled to Khwārazm with Ghunjār, and there the two of them heard ḥadiths from ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn al-Aswad al-Baṣrī and from Mughīrah ibn Mūsā, the companion of Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūbah.