and he possessed keen insight and an excellent memory, and he also applied himself to jurisprudence (1).

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Ḥātim said, “I saw my father lavish praise on Aḥmad ibn Sayyār, extolling his learning and legal acumen.”

ʿUmar ibn Ḥafṣ al-Ashqar related: “When Rajāʾ ibn Murajja arrived in Bukhara on his way to Shāsh, he took up quarters in the ribāṭ. Our elders went out to greet him, and I was among them. He asked me about Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl, so I assured him that he was well and added, ‘He may come to you at any moment.’ Rajāʾ then dictated some hadith to us, the session ended, and Muḥammad did not appear.

“On the second day he still did not come, and on the third day Rajāʾ said, ‘Abū ʿAbd Allāh evidently does not deem us worthy of a visit. Let us go to him and discharge his right, for I am about to depart’—and he seemed annoyed with him. We therefore went to Muḥammad as a group.

“Rajāʾ said, ‘O Abū ʿAbd Allāh, I have longed to meet you. I would like you to narrate something of hadith, for I am on the point of leaving.’ He replied, ‘As you wish.’

“Rajāʾ recited a number of reports from Ayyūb, and Abū ʿAbd Allāh supplied the answers until Rajāʾ stopped. Rajāʾ then asked, ‘Do you think anything remains that we have not mentioned?’ Muḥammad thereupon began to narrate, and each time Rajāʾ asked, ‘Who transmitted this?’ Abū ʿAbd Allāh produced its chain of transmission, until he had cited nearly a dozen hadith.

“Rajāʾ’s complexion changed drastically. Abū ʿAbd Allāh glanced at his face, noticed the change, and broke off the narration.

“After Rajāʾ left, Muḥammad said, ‘I intended to reach twice the number I had already recited to him, but I feared that something might overwhelm him, so I refrained’ (2).

Khalaf ibn Muḥammad reported: “I heard Abū ʿAmr Aḥmad ibn Naṣr al-Khaffāf say, ‘Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl is more knowledgeable in hadith than Isḥāq ibn Rāhūyah and Aḥmad ibn…’”