Among those who narrated from him were al-Tirmidhī, Abū Ḥātim, al-Bukhārī—though not in his Ṣaḥīḥ—Ismāʿīl al-Qāḍī, Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn Mattawayh, Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Sarrāj, ʿAbd Allah ibn Maḥmūd al-Marwazī, and many others.

He ranked among the leading imams of independent legal reasoning (ijtihād) and authored several works, foremost among them the book al-Tanbīh.

Al-Ḥākim said, “Whoever studies his al-Tanbīh will recognize his pre-eminence in the various sciences (1).”

Ṭalḥah al-Shāhid stated, “He possessed vast knowledge of jurisprudence, abundant refinement, a graceful presence (3), and was equal to every difficult question (2).”

He so impressed the caliph al-Maʾmūn that, despite the caliph’s own scholarly acumen, no one enjoyed greater favor in his sight.

The ministers would ratify nothing until they had first consulted Yaḥyā (4).

Al-Khaṭīb said, “Al-Maʾmūn appointed him chief judge of Baghdad; he was a descendant of Aktham ibn Ṣayfī.”

ʿAbd Allah ibn Aḥmad related, “He heard (hadith) from Ibn al-Mubārak while still a child. His father then prepared a banquet, invited the people, and proclaimed, ‘Bear witness that my son has transmitted from ʿAbd Allah’ (5).”

Abū Dāwūd al-Sinjī (6) said, “I heard Yaḥyā say, ‘I was once in the company of Sufyān…’”