nothing is blamed on me except my seating my son with the senior scholars; if he cannot hold his own against them in knowledge, then bar him from the hearing.” (1)
Abū al-Qāsim ibn al-Samarqandī transmitted this report. Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad al-Tafakkurī al-Zanjānī narrated to us, saying: (2)
“I heard al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Bundār al-Zanjānī say: (3)
‘Aḥmad ibn Ṣāliḥ used to keep beardless youths from narrating hadith, out of scrupulousness…’ He then recounted the incident and added, ‘A group gathered, yet the boy surpassed them with his understanding. After that, Aḥmad never narrated anything further to him, although the lad had already obtained the first fascicle, and I am the one who transmit it.’
I say: Rather, I narrate abundantly from him.
Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī said: I asked al-Dāraqutnī about Ibn Abī Dāwūd, and he replied, “Reliable, though he often slips when commenting on hadith.” (4)
Abū Aḥmad ibn ʿAdī also mentioned him in al-Kāmil, saying, “Were it not that we stipulated that….”
(1) Previous source, vol. 2, pp. 770–771.
(2) The additional material is taken from Tarikh Ibn Asakir; in the base manuscript one word could not be deciphered.
(3) The report with its chain of transmission appears in Tarikh Ibn Asakir, MS Kh, fol. 9/186a–b: “Ahmad ibn Salih used to refuse to relate hadith to beardless youths, out of piety and to avert suspicion. Abu Dawud attended his sessions and received hadith from him. Abu Dawud had a beardless son who wished to hear Ahmad’s narrations. Knowing the shaykh’s rule, Abu Dawud fastened a tuft of hair to the boy’s chin so that he would appear bearded, brought him to the session, and let him hear one fascicle. When the shaykh learned of this he said to Abu Dawud, ‘Is someone like me to be treated in this manner?’ Abu Dawud replied, ‘Master, do not blame me. Assemble my son with the senior jurists and hadith scholars; if his knowledge does not match theirs, then forbid him from hearing.’ A group of scholars gathered, the boy engaged them in discussion, and surpassed them all with his understanding. Even so, the shaykh never transmitted anything further to him; he retained only that first fascicle. The shaykh said, ‘I narrate it,’ and Ibn Abi Dawud used to boast of having that single fascicle in his isnad.”
(4) Tadhkirat al-huffaz, vol. 2, p. 771.