and the smoke of this lamp is billowing in the daytime—why not give yourself a little respite?’
He replied, ‘My son, you say that to me while I am in the company of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, his Companions, and the Followers (1)!’

I heard Yaḥyā ibn Manṣūr the judge say: I heard my maternal uncle ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAllawayh say: I heard Muḥammad ibn Sahl ibn ʿAskar say, ‘We were with Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal when Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā came in. Aḥmad rose to greet him, brought him close to his seat, and instructed his sons and companions to write down from him (2).’

Zanjwayah ibn Muḥammad said: I heard Abū ʿAmr al-Mustamli say: I came to Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, and he asked, ‘Where are you from?’ I replied, ‘From Nīshāpūr.’ He said, ‘Does Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā hold a session there?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He remarked, ‘If he were with us, we would appoint him an imam in hadith.’ I then mentioned Muḥammad ibn Rāfiʿ, and he asked, ‘Who is Muḥammad ibn Rāfiʿ?’ After pausing for a moment he said, ‘Perhaps he is the one who was with us at ʿAbd al-Razzāq’s?’ I said, ‘Yes.’

Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr reported—my father narrated to us—that I asked Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn, ‘Why do you not compile the hadith of al-Zuhrī?’ He answered, ‘Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā has spared us that task.’

Zanjwayah ibn Muḥammad also said: I used to hear our shaykhs say, ‘A hadith unknown to Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā is not worth consideration.’

Abū Quraysh the ḥāfiẓ said: I was with Abū Zurʿa when Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj came in. He greeted him, sat for a while, and the two of them discussed hadith. When Muslim rose to leave, I said to Abū Zurʿa, ‘This man has collected four thousand hadith in his Ṣaḥīḥ.’ He replied, ‘Then for whom did he leave the rest?’