—two or three exercises,(1) after which I would go to ʿĀtika bint Shuhda and take from her a melody or two, then to al-Asmaʿī and Abū ʿUbayda to profit from them both, and finally to al-Rashīd’s assembly late in the day.(2)

Ibn al-Aʿrābī used to describe Isḥāq as learned, honest, and possessing a prodigious memory. He would say, “Have you ever heard a lovelier opening than his:

Is there a way for my eyes at last to sleep? …
My bond with slumber has been severed long and deep.(3)

Isḥāq recounted: “When we travelled with al-Rashīd to al-Raqqah, al-Asmaʿī asked me, ‘How many of your books did you bring?’ I replied, ‘Sixteen trunks.’”

It is reported from Isḥāq that he disliked being ascribed to singing, saying, “I would rather be struck on the head with clubs than have it said of me, ‘He is a singer.’”

Al-Maʾmūn remarked, “Had Isḥāq not been publicly known for singing, I would have appointed him to the judiciary.”

Al-Ṣūlī relates: Abū al-ʿAynāʾ informed us, Isḥāq al-Mawṣilī narrated:

“I once brought Abū Muʿāwiyah al-Ḍarīr a collection of one hundred hadiths. I found another blind man acting as his doorkeeper, hoping to profit thereby, so I gave him one hundred dirhams. He secured permission for me, and I recited the hundred hadiths. Abū Muʿāwiyah then said to me, ‘That fellow is a feeble repeater; whatever you promised him he will scrounge from the dregs of people, whereas you are who you are.’

I said, ‘I have…’