The ḥadith master Abū al-Faḍl also compiled a Ṣaḥīḥ arranged on the pattern of Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. I have seen a useful booklet of his containing some thirty-odd traditions—reports whose hidden defects he had clarified in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim.
The earliest shaykh he met was the ḥāfiẓ ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd al-Dārimī.
It appears that he did not reach the age of fifty—may Allah have mercy on him—and for that reason his narrations did not become widely known.
Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAlī the jurist related to us in his book; Muḥammad ibn ʿUṣayya, Zakariyyā al-ʿUlabi, and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ṣīlāʾ told us, saying:
ʿAbd al-Awwal ibn ʿĪsā informed us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad the ḥāfiẓ informed us; al-Ḥusayn ibn Isḥāq informed us; Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar ibn Ḥafṣawayh informed us; Abū al-Faḍl the martyr narrated to us; Ibrāhīm ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿUmar al-Wakīʿī narrated to us; ʿAlī ibn ʿUthmān al-Lāḥiqī narrated to us; Ḥammād ibn Salama—from Muḥammad ibn Ziyād—from Abū Hurayra—who said:
He heard the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—say, “Leave me so long as I leave you (alone).” (1)
(1) Reported by Muslim, no. 1337, Book of Hajj, chapter “The obligation of Hajj once in a lifetime,” through Zuhayr b. Harb from Yazid b. Harun.
Also transmitted by al-Nasaʾi, 5/110, at the beginning of the Book of Hajj, through the chain of Muhammad b. Abd Allah b. al-Mubarak al-Mukharrami from Abu Hisham al-Mughira b. Salama, both from al-Rabiʿ b. Muslim, who said: Muhammad b. Ziyad narrated to us from Abu Hurayra: “The Messenger of Allah addressed us and said, ‘O people, Allah has prescribed the pilgrimage for you; so perform Hajj.’ A man asked, ‘Every year, Messenger of Allah?’ The Prophet kept silent until the man had repeated the question three times. He then said, ‘Had I said Yes, it would have become obligatory, and you would not have been able to perform it.’ He added, ‘Leave me so long as I leave you; those before you perished because of their excessive questioning and their disagreements with their prophets. When I command you to do something, do of it as much as you can; and when I forbid you something, then refrain from it.’
Al-Bukhari also records the hadith, 13/219–220, in Kitab al-Iʿtisam, and Muslim, no. 131, in the Book of Virtues, chapter on honoring the Prophet, through Abu al-Zinad from al-Aʿraj from Abu Hurayra: “Leave me so long as I leave you; those before you were destroyed by their persistent questions and their disagreements with their prophets. When I forbid you something, avoid it; and when I command you to do something, carry out of it what you are able.”