Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū ʿAmr al-Mustamlī said: ʿAlī ibn Salama al-Karābīsī—who was a man of piety—informed me:
“On the night that Isḥāq al-Ḥanẓalī died I saw, as though a moon rose from the ground to the sky from Isḥāq’s alley. It then descended and settled in the very spot where Isḥāq was later buried.
I had not heard of his death, but when I went out the next morning I found a gravedigger digging Isḥāq’s grave at the place where I had seen the moon alight.”
Al-Ḥākim said: Yaḥyā ibn Muḥammad al-ʿAnbarī narrated to us; I heard Ibrāhīm ibn Abī Ṭālib say: “I asked Abū Qudāma about al-Shāfiʿī, Aḥmad, Isḥāq and Abū ʿUbayd.
He replied, ‘The most proficient jurist among them is al-Shāfiʿī, though he relates few ḥadiths; the most scrupulous is Aḥmad; the strongest in memorisation is Isḥāq; and the one best versed in the dialects of the Arabs is Abū ʿUbayd.’”
Abū al-Qāsim al-Baghawī said: Mūsā ibn Hārūn told me: “I said to Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh, ‘Which of you is older, you or Aḥmad?’ He replied, ‘He is older than I—both in age and in other matters.’”
According to Mūsā, Isḥāq was born in the year 166 AH; this statement has already been mentioned.
ʿUthmān ibn Jaʿfar al-Labbān reported: ʿAlī ibn Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh narrated to us:
“My father came out of his mother’s womb with both ears pierced. My grandfather Rāhwayh went to al-Faḍl ibn Mūsā and asked him about it. He said, ‘Your son will become a leading figure—either in good or in evil.’”
Al-Khaṭīb related this story in his History (1) from al-Jawharī, who said: Al-Khaṭīb told us; Muḥammad ibn al-ʿAbbās al-Khazzāz narrated to us; ʿUthmān [ibn Jaʿfar] … and he mentioned it. This chain of transmission is sound, and the story itself is remarkable.
Musallam ibn ʿAllān granted us authorisation; al-Kindī narrated to us; al-Shaybānī narrated to us; al-Khaṭīb narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faḍl narrated to us; ʿAlī ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us