to ask him to repeat it. I had brought him some wheat from the farmland, and he said to me, “Stay here with me and write down the weight of this wheat; when you finish, I will repeat it for you.” I did so, whereupon he asked me about the first hadith of that session, then leaned against the doorpost and recited the entire gathering from memory. He had, in fact, dictated the whole Musnad purely from memory.

Al-Barqānī said, “We read this report to Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Khwarizmī in that locality. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy, the judge, narrated to you, saying, ‘I heard Ishāq ibn Rāhwayh say:

A man repented of heresy; he wept and kept repeating, ‘How can my repentance be accepted when I have forged four thousand hadith that are now circulating among the people?’’”

Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Akhram said, “I heard Muḥammad ibn Ishāq ibn Rāhwayh relate:

‘I went in to Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, and he asked, “Are you the son of Abū Yaʿqūb?” I said, “Yes.” He replied, “Had you remained with him, it would have benefitted you far more, for you have never seen anyone like him.”’”

Qutaybah ibn Saʿīd remarked, “The foremost ḥuffāẓ in Khurāsān are: Ishāq ibn Rāhwayh, then ʿAbd Allāh al-Dārimī, then Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl.”

Aḥmad ibn Yūsuf al-Sulamī reported: “I heard Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā say:

‘My wife said to me, “How can you let Ishāq precede you when you are older than he is?” I replied, “Ishāq possesses more knowledge than I do, while I am older than he.”’”

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Shabbūyah stated, “I heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal say, ‘You will never meet anyone like Ishāq.’”

Faḍl ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥimyārī narrated, “I asked Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal about Ishāq, and he said, ‘We have never seen anyone of his equal. Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿĪsā al-Bistāmī is a jurist; Ismāʿīl ibn Saʿīd al-Shālanjī is also a learned jurist; and as for Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿAṭṭār…’”