Abū Bilāl referred to here is Mirdās ibn ʿUdayyah, a Kharijite; in his ignorance he counted men’s light, thin garments as the attire of libertines.

Al-Ruyānī recorded this report in his Musnad.

Al-Ruyānī also narrated from Abū al-Rabīʿ al-Zahrānī, Isḥāq ibn Shāhīn, Abū Kurayb Muḥammad ibn al-ʿAlāʾ, Muḥammad ibn Ḥumayd al-Rāzī, ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī al-Fallās, Yaḥyā ibn Ḥakīm al-Muqawwam, Abū Zurʿah al-Rāzī, Ibn Wārah, and many others. He travelled widely in pursuit of knowledge and possessed thorough expertise.

Those who transmitted from him include Abū Bakr al-Ismāʿīlī, Ibrāhīm ibn Aḥmad al-Qirmīsīnī, Jaʿfar ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Fannākī, and others. Abū Yaʿlā al-Khalīlī declared him reliable, noting that he authored works on jurisprudence and that he died in 307 AH.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Aḥmad ibn Manṣūr al-Shīrāzī related that he heard Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Ṣaḥḥāf say:

“I heard Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Bakrī say: ‘The quest for knowledge in Egypt once gathered together Muḥammad ibn Jarīr, Ibn Khuzaymah, Muḥammad ibn Naṣr, and Muḥammad ibn Hārūn al-Ruyānī. They exhausted their funds, had no provisions left, and grew hungry. They met in a house and drew lots to decide who would go out and ask for aid on their behalf. The lot fell to Ibn Khuzaymah.

“He said, ‘Give me a moment so that I may pray.’

“He rose to pray, and suddenly a servant and an attendant arrived from the governor of Egypt, carrying a torch. When they opened the door, the attendant asked, ‘Which one of you is Muḥammad ibn Naṣr?’

“They answered, ‘This is he.’

“He produced a purse containing fifty dinars and handed it to him. Then he asked, ‘Which one of you is Muḥammad ibn Jarīr?’

“They said, ‘This one.’

“He gave him the same amount, and likewise gave to Ibn Khuzaymah and to al-Ruyānī. He then informed them that the governor had been resting the previous afternoon and had seen in a dream that ‘the Muhammads’ were hungry and had gone without food. Therefore he sent these purses to you and has bound you by oath that, if…’