all that you inserted into the compilation?’ He answered, ‘Nothing contained in it is hidden from me.’ (1)

I also heard him say, ‘I composed every one of my books three times over.’

And I heard him say, ‘If some of my teachers (2) were to be brought back to life, they would not understand the method by which I arranged the History, nor would they recognize it. In fact, I compiled it three times as well.’ (3)

I further heard him say, ‘Ishaq ibn Rahwayh took the History I had authored and presented it to ʿAbd Allah ibn Tahir, saying, “O Emir, shall I show you magic?” ʿAbd Allah looked through it, was astonished, and declared, “I cannot make sense of the way it has been put together.”’ (4)

Khalaf al-Khayyam said, ‘I heard Ishaq ibn Ahmad ibn Khalaf say, “Muhammad ibn Ismaʿil entered Iraq at the end of the year 210 AH.”’

Muhammad ibn Abi Hatim said, ‘I heard al-Bukhari say, “I entered Baghdad eight times; on each occasion I met with Ahmad ibn Hanbal. When I bade him farewell for the last time, he said, ‘Abu ʿAbd Allah, will you leave knowledge and its people and go off to Khurasan?!’ I still recall his words to this very moment.”’ (5)