He was born in the mid-140s AH.

He received hadith from his uncle Juwayriyah ibn Asmāʾ, from Mahdī ibn Maymūn, Jaʿfar ibn Sulaymān al-Ḍubaʿī, and ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak, though he was not a copious transmitter.

Narrators who reported from him include al-Bukhārī, Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, Abū Zurʿah, Abū Ḥātim, Abū Bakr ibn Abī ʿĀṣim, Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Būshanjī, Mūsā ibn Hārūn, Yūsuf the judge, Abū Khalīfah al-Jumaḥī, Abū Yaʿlā al-Mawṣilī, and many others.

Al-Nasāʾī also transmitted—through an unnamed intermediary—from him.

He was declared trustworthy by Abū Ḥātim and others (1).

Ibn Wārah said, “ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Asmāʾ narrated to me, and it was said that he was the finest man in Basra. I mentioned him to ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī, who spoke of him with great esteem” (2).

Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Dawraqī remarked, “I have never seen anyone in Basra superior to him” (3).

I (the author) note that the Musnad of Abū Yaʿlā contains several hadiths transmitted on his authority.

He passed away in 231 AH. A well-known collection of his narrations has reached us and we have heard it read.

Aḥmad ibn Hibat Allāh informed us—on the authority of ʿAbd al-Muʿizz ibn Muḥammad, who was informed by Zāhir ibn Ṭāhir and Tamīm ibn Abī Saʿīd, who both said:

Abū Saʿd the littérateur told us; Abū ʿAmr ibn Abī Jaʿfar told us; Abū Yaʿlā al-Mawṣilī told us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Asmāʾ narrated to us; Juwayriyah ibn Asmāʾ narrated to us, from Nāfiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar, from the Messenger