nor did he involve himself in other people’s affairs; all his time was devoted to knowledge.

He also said: “I heard Sulaym ibn Mujāhid remark, ‘No one is left who teaches the people ḥadīth purely for Allah’s sake except Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl.’ I even saw Sulaym ask Abū ʿAbd Allāh to relate three ḥadīths to him each day, clarifying their meanings, explanations, and hidden reasons, and Abū ʿAbd Allāh obliged him for as long as he stayed. On that visit he remained for a full week.

I heard Sulaym say, ‘In sixty years I have never seen with my own eyes anyone more learned in fiqh, more scrupulous, or more detached from the world than Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl.’ (1)

ʿAbd al-Majīd ibn Ibrāhīm said, “I have never met anyone like Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl; he treated the strong and the weak alike.”

A Note on His Generosity, Graciousness, Character, and Other Traits

Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥātim reported: “He owned a plot of land that he leased each year for seven hundred dirhams. Now and then the tenant would bring Abū ʿAbd Allāh one or two cucumbers, because he was fond of ripe cucumbers and would sometimes prefer them to watermelon. For that occasional gift he would give the man one hundred dirhams every year.

“I also heard him say, ‘My monthly profit used to be five hundred dirhams, and I spent it all in the pursuit of knowledge.’

“So I commented, ‘How great is the difference between someone who spends his wealth in this way and another who started with nothing, then hoarded and earned money through knowledge until it accumulated for him.’

“Abū ʿAbd Allāh replied, ‘What is with Allah is better and more lasting.’ (Q 42:36)"}