in Khurasan before he set out for Iraq—both in his own district and in Herat—and he wrote in Baghlan (1) from Qutaybah and in Rayy from Ibrahim ibn Musa. The loftiest of his chains, however, ran through al-Qaʿnabi and Muslim ibn Ibrahim, and he mentioned several others.
He added that Abu Dawud had written earlier in Nishapur, after which he travelled with his son, Abu Bakr, to Khurasan.
Abu ʿUbayd al-Ājurri transmitted from Abu Dawud who said: “I entered Kufah in the year 221 AH, and in Damascus I have never seen anyone like Abu al-Nadr al-Faradisi; he wept profusely. I wrote from him in 222 AH.”
Qadi al-Khalil ibn Ahmad as-Sijzi said: I heard Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Layth, the judge of our town, relate:
“Sahl ibn ʿAbd Allah at-Tustari came to Abu Dawud as-Sijistani. Someone announced, ‘Abu Dawud, Sahl ibn ʿAbd Allah has come to visit you.’ He welcomed him and seated him. Sahl then said, ‘Abu Dawud, I have a request.’
‘What is it?’ he asked.
Sahl replied, ‘First say, “I will grant it if it is within my ability.”’
He said, ‘Yes.’
Sahl said, ‘Bring out for me the tongue with which you narrate the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ so that I may kiss it.’
So he extended his tongue, and Sahl kissed it. (2)
Ismaʿil ibn Muhammad as-Saffar narrated from as-Saghani: ‘Hadith was made pliant for Abu Dawud as-Sijistani just as iron was made pliant for David.’
Musa ibn Harun said, ‘I have never seen anyone better than Abu Dawud.’
Ibn Dasa reported: I heard Abu Dawud say, ‘In the Sunan I have cited what is sound and what closely approaches it; should a report suffer from severe weakness, I have pointed it out.’ (3)