hadith, I entered one of the towns and there encountered a shaykh (scholar). I needed to stay with him in order to collect many narrations from him, yet my funds had dwindled and I was far from my homeland. At night I would devote myself continuously to writing, and by day I would read to him. One night, as I sat copying and the night had almost passed, fluid gathered in my eyes so that I could no longer see the lamp or even the room. I wept over being cut off and over the knowledge slipping away from me; my weeping grew until I lay on my side and fell asleep.
In my sleep I saw the Prophet ﷺ, and he called, “O Yaʿqūb ibn Sufyān! Why did you weep?” I replied, “O Messenger of Allah, my sight has gone, and I sorrowed for what I am missing of writing your sunnah and for being separated from my land.” He said, “Draw near to me.” I came close, and he passed his hand over my eyes as though reciting over them. Then I awoke and could see again; I gathered my notebooks and sat by the lamp writing (1).
Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Fārisī said: Abū Zurʿah al-Dimashqī related to us: Two men of eminent rank came to us. The first and more distinguished of them (2) was Yaʿqūb ibn Sufyān Abū Yūsuf—people in Iraq would be unable to find his like—and he named the second, Ḥarb ibn Ismāʿīl al-Kirmānī, saying, “This one is among those who write from me.” (3)
Abū Bakr al-Ismāʿīlī said: Muḥammad ibn Dāwūd ibn Dīnār al-Fārisī narrated to us; Yaʿqūb ibn Sufyān, that righteous servant, narrated to us a hadith which he set forth in full.
The ḥāfiẓ Abū Dharr said: I heard Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn ʿAbdān say: Yaʿqūb ibn al-Layth al-Ṣaffār—the ruler of Khurasan—came to Fars, and he was informed that there was a man there who spoke against ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, meaning Yaʿqūb al-Fasawī, for he inclined toward Shiʿism, so he ordered