Aḥmad ibn Sahl al-Bukhārī, the jurist, said: “I heard Abū ʿAlī and he was asked, ‘Why were you given the nickname Jazara?’ He replied, ‘ʿUmar ibn Zurārah al-Ḥadathī once arrived in Baghdad and a large crowd gathered around him. When the session ended, I was asked, “From which narration did you hear (from him)?” I answered, “From the ḥadith of the jazarah,” and the name has stayed with me ever since.’

Khalaf ibn Muḥammad al-Khayyām said: Sahl ibn Shādhawayh narrated to us that he heard the emir Khālid ibn Aḥmad ask Abū ʿAlī, ‘Why were you nicknamed Jazara?’ He replied, ‘ʿUmar ibn Zurārah came to us and related a report from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Busr stating that he had a kharazah (bead) with which he treated the sick. I arrived—this report had already been mentioned—saw it in someone’s notebook and called out to the shaykh, “Abū Ḥafṣ! Abū Ḥafṣ! How goes the ḥadith of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Busr about his having a jazarah with which he treated the sick?” The light-hearted transmitters burst out laughing, and the nickname has clung to me to this very hour.’

I say: Ṣāliḥ was a man of humor and never became upset when anyone addressed him by that epithet.

Abū Bakr al-Barqānī said: Abū Ḥātim ibn Abī al-Faḍl al-Harawī informed us: ‘Ṣāliḥ would sometimes engage in banter (1). In Bukhārā there was a ḥāfiẓ known by the nickname “Jamal” (Camel). He was walking with Ṣāliḥ ibn Muḥammad when a camel laden with jazar came toward them. The man asked, “What is that, Abū ʿAlī?” Ṣāliḥ retorted, “Right back at you.”’

This anecdote has a broken chain.

Al-Ḥākim narrated: Bakr ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī informed us: I heard Ṣāliḥ ibn Muḥammad say: ‘I was travelling alongside al-Jamal the poet in Egypt when a camel carrying jazar came toward us…’