Muḥammad al-Balkhī; the people were unable to keep up with him in review sessions because of the vastness of his memorization, so he put Jaʿfar ibn Aḥmad to the test with the hadiths that deal with tamattuʿ, the rites of hajj, ifrād, and qirān, rattling them off one after another. Jaʿfar therefore said to him, “Do you have by heart the report transmitted by Sulaymān al-Taymī, from Anas, that the Prophet ﷺ pronounced the talbiyah for both hajj and ʿumrah together (1)?”
He stood there, repeating, “al-Taymī from Anas…,” whereupon Jaʿfar supplied it, saying, “Yahyā ibn Ḥabīb ibn ʿArabī related it to us; Muʿtamir narrated it to us from his father.”
Al-Ḥākim said: Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Sukkari—Jaʿfar’s grandson—told me, “My grandfather used to divide the night into three equal portions: one-third for prayer, one-third for writing, and one-third for sleep. His illness lasted three days, during which he never stopped reciting the Quran.”
I heard Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shāfiʿī say: “Abū ʿAmr al-Khaffāf’s power of recall was greater than his comprehension, and he would accept correction from no one except the ḥadith master Jaʿfar; to Jaʿfar’s judgement he always deferred.”
And I heard Aḥmad ibn al-Khaḍr relate: I heard Jaʿfar ibn Aḥmad say, “We were in the gathering of Muḥammad ibn Rāfiʿ beneath a tree while he read aloud to us. If anyone raised his voice or even smiled, he would rise and leave, and he would not be coaxed back. Bird droppings fell on my hand and on my book, and a servant of the sons of Ṭāhir ibn ʿAbd Allah, the amīr, laughed. Ibn Rāfiʿ looked at him, closed the book, and departed. News of the incident reached the ruler. The servant then came to me accompanied by a porter carrying on his back a load of nabat samān. He said, ‘By Allah, I possess nothing else; this is a gift for you. If you are asked about me, say, “I do not know who it was that smiled.”’ I replied, ‘I will do so.’
“The next day I was taken to the ruler’s gate; I cleared the servant of any blame, then sold the samān for thirty dinars and used the proceeds to…"