“Abū Nuʿaym narrated to us; Jaʿfar al-Aḥmar narrated to us; Mughīrah narrated….”
He said, “You are mistaken.”
I continued, “Abū Nuʿaym narrated to us; Abū Kudaynah narrated, from Mughīrah.”
He replied, “You are correct.”

Then Abū Zurʿah said, “I became confused. I wrote down these three hadiths from Abū Nuʿaym, and I have not looked at them since I wrote them.”

He then asked, “And what else besides this?”
I said, “Muʿādh ibn Hishām, from Ashʿath, from al-Ḥasan.”
He said, “You stole that from me”—and he was right—“A man in Baghdad once reminded me of it, and I memorized it from him.” (1)

Abū ʿAlī Jazrah related: “Abū Zurʿah said to me, ‘Take us to Sulaymān al-Shādhakūnī so that we can review with him.’ So we went, and he kept reviewing with him until al-Shādhakūnī could no longer keep up. When fatigue overcame him, he posed to him a hadith from the narrations of the people of Rayy, and Abū Zurʿah did not recognize it.

“Sulaymān exclaimed, ‘Subḥāna Allah! A hadith from your own land—its source is right there among you!’ Abū Zurʿah remained silent while al-Shādhakūnī embarrassed him, showing those present that he had stumped him.

“When we left, I saw that Abū Zurʿah was distressed, saying, ‘I have no idea where he got that from.’ I said to him, ‘He slipped it in on the spot so that you would falter and feel ashamed.’ He asked, ‘Really?’ I said, ‘Yes,’ and his worry was lifted.” (2)

Ibn ʿAdī said: “I heard Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm the reciter, who said: I heard Faḍla the goldsmith say:

‘I entered Madinah and went to the door of Abū Muṣʿab. A bearded elder—his beard dyed—came out to me while I was drowsy; he nudged me and said, “O Mardarik (3)! Where are you from? How can you be sleeping?” I answered, “May Allah set things right for you. I am from Rayy, one of the shākird (students) (4) of Abū Zurʿah.” He said, “You left Abū Zurʿah and came to me? I met Mālik.”’