I felt embarrassed and we stood up. Our companions then began to say, “He has cited this ḥadith more than once, yet Aḥmad did not recognize it,” while I kept silent and did not reply.

He went on: “When we arrived in Baghdad we called on Aḥmad. He welcomed us warmly and asked after our welfare. Then he said, ‘Tell me, Abū ʿAbd Allāh: which ḥadith did you acquire from Musaddad through Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd?’

“So I mentioned to him the ḥadith on faith. Aḥmad said, ‘Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd narrated it to us,’ whereupon he produced his notebook and dictated it to us.

“Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā remained silent and did not say, ‘We already asked you about it.’ His companions were amazed at his patience.

“Aḥmad later told them that Muḥammad had questioned him about the ḥadith before he left for Baṣrah. After that, whenever Abū ʿAbd Allāh mentioned him he would say, ‘Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā—the intelligent one.’ (1)”

Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Azharī said: I heard Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā’s maid, while he lay on the bier being washed, say, “I served him for thirty years; I used to set the water out for him, yet I never once saw his shin, though I was his bondwoman.” (2)

Al-Ḥākim said: I heard Abū ʿAlī Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Zayd al-Muʿaddal say: I heard Yaḥyā ibn al-Dhuhlī say, “I entered upon my father on a sweltering summer day at the time of the midday siesta. He was in his library with a lamp burning before him, composing a work. I said, ‘Father, it is the time for prayer, and the smoke of this lamp is rising in broad daylight…’”