reading from them, the pages in his hand, and saying, “Where are those who claim that Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn is not the Commander of the Faithful in ḥadīth? Yes, Abū Zakariyyā, I made a mistake; these reports were transmitted by someone other than Ibn al-Mubārak, on the authority of Ibn ʿAwn.”

Ḥusayn ibn Ḥibbān said that Ibn Maʿīn recounted: “Ibn Wahb handed me a volume from Muʿāwiyah ibn Ṣāliḥ containing five hundred ḥadīths, or more. I selected from it the worst of them, for I had no expertise in those days. I asked him, ‘Did you hear them from anyone before Ibn Wahb?’ He said, ‘No.’ I replied, ‘That is how every beginner is; he does not know how to choose well. We did the same and later regretted it.’

Muḥammad ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī said: Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn set out for the pilgrimage, and he was a hearty eater. Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Shāh told me that he was in his company. When they reached Fayd, someone presented Yaḥyā with fālūdhaj—a sweet that had not yet fully cooked. We said to him, ‘Abū Zakariyyā, do not eat it; we fear for your health.’ He paid no attention to us and ate it. It had scarcely settled in his stomach when he complained of severe abdominal pain and began to purge, and this continued until we reached Medina. He could no longer stand. We consulted one another about his situation, but we had no way to remain with him because of the ḥajj and did not know what to do.

Some of us resolved to stay with him and forgo the pilgrimage. We spent the night, and before dawn he dictated his last will and died. We washed him and buried him.

Abū Zurʿah al-Rāzī said, “People derived no benefit from Yaḥyā because he used to speak critically about others.”

I have come across an unusual report transmitted by Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī from al-Dāraqutnī stating that Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn died ten months before his father.

Mahīb ibn Sulaym al-Bukhārī said: Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-Bukhārī, the ḥāfiẓ, related to us, “We were performing ḥajj with Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn. We entered Medina on the eve of Friday, and he died that very night. When morning came, word spread among the people of his arrival and his death, so the populace gathered, and the Banū Hāshim came and said, ‘Let us bring out for him the bier on which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was washed.’ The common people disliked that, and the discussion grew heated. Banū Hāshim said, ‘We have the strongest claim to the Prophet ﷺ, and he (Yaḥyā) is worthy that