al-Ḥusayn ibn Ismāʿīl al-Fārisī say: “I heard Abū Muqātil Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd Allāh say, ‘I heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal remark: There is a man here whom Allah has created for this very task—he exposes the lies of the fabricators,’ meaning: Ibn Maʿīn.”
Through this same chain al-Tanūkhī and Muḥammad ibn Ṭalḥah al-Niʿālī narrated to us. They said: “Abū Naṣr Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Bukhārī related to us; ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥurayth informed us; I heard Aḥmad ibn Salamah; I heard Muḥammad ibn Rāfiʿ; I heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal say: ‘Any report that is unknown to Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn is, in fact, no report at all.’”
Ibn ʿAdī said: “Yaḥyā ibn Zakarīyā ibn Ḥayyawayh told us; al-ʿAbbās ibn Isḥāq told us; I heard Hārūn ibn Maʿrūf say:
‘A certain shaykh arrived among us. I went to him early and asked him to dictate hadith to us. He took up his notebook. Just then the door was knocked. The shaykh asked, “Who is it?”
‘“Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal,” came the reply.
‘He permitted him to enter, but the shaykh did not so much as stir. Presently the door was knocked again. “Who is it?” he asked.
‘“Aḥmad al-Dawraqī.”
‘He allowed him in and again did not move. Then Ibn al-Rūmī knocked—likewise; then Abū Khaythamah—likewise. Finally the door was knocked once more.
‘“Who is it?”
‘“Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn.”
‘At that I saw the shaykh’s hand tremble, and the book fell from his grasp.’”
Jaʿfar al-Ṭayālisī said: “I heard Ibn Maʿīn relate: ‘When ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn ʿAṭāʾ arrived, I went to him and wrote down hadith from him. While I was with him, a letter came from his family. He read it and wrote a reply, and I saw that he had written on its back: ‘I have reached Baghdad, and Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn has accepted me—praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.’”
Abū ʿUbayd al-Ājurrī said: “I asked Abū Dāwūd, ‘Who has deeper knowledge of the transmitters, Yaḥyā or ʿAlī?’ He answered, ‘Yaḥyā. As for myself, I possess no information about the scholars of Syria.’”
ʿAbd al-Muʾmin al-Nasafī said: “I asked Abū ʿAlī Ṣāliḥ ibn Muḥammad, ‘Who is the more learned in hadith: Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn or Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal?’ He replied, ‘Aḥmad is more knowledgeable in fiqh…’”