—then I returned to Homs, then moved on to al-Raqqah, and from there I rode to Iraq. All of this took place during my very first journey, when I was twenty years old.

I left Rayy and entered Kūfah in Ramaḍān of the year 213 AH; while I was still in Kūfah the news of al-Muqriʾ’s death reached us (1). I set out again in 242 AH, returned to Rayy in 245 AH, and performed my fourth pilgrimage in 255 AH.

In that same year ʿAbd al-Raḥmān—his son (2)—also made the Ḥajj.

I heard my father say: “Muḥammad ibn Muṣaffā copied from me a fascicle of ḥadīths that he had himself selected (3).

Duḥaym spoke with me about narrating to the people of Tiberias; they had requested that I teach them. I replied, ‘In a town that has someone like Judge Duḥaym, should I be the one to relate ḥadīths there?!’

Duḥaym insisted, saying, ‘This town is far from the main route, and very few people come to them to transmit ḥadīths (4).’

I heard my father say: ‘In the year 214 AH I remained eight months in Basra. I had intended to stay an entire year, but my funds were exhausted. I began selling my clothes until nothing was left and I found myself without any money at all. Even so, I would accompany a friend to the shaykhs, listening to ḥadīths until evening. My companion would then leave, and I would return home and drink water to quiet my hunger. In the morning he would come for me, and I would go around with him again, attending hadith sessions in severe hunger; I would come back hungry, and when the next day arrived—’