And the leading Imams of the Sunnah—both in knowledge and in jurisprudence, those well-versed in ḥadīth and in the unalloyed matters of Islam—were found among them in greater numbers than elsewhere. It was even said that their judges were ḥadīth-scholars by training, such as Ṣāliḥ ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and Abū Bakr ibn Abī ʿĀṣim, and those who followed after them; as for their later condition, I have no certain knowledge.

Likewise, every locality or individual from among the Persians that receives genuine praise is lauded only because of a resemblance to the early forerunners. People may differ over whether one person surpasses another, or one statement or deed excels another, because each side believes that what it upholds is closer to the path of the first predecessors. The entire ummah is unanimous on this foundational principle: the superiority of the early Arabs’ way, and that true merit belongs to whoever follows them. That is the point under discussion here.

The matter is completed by two considerations. The first is that when a Muslim examines or speaks about virtues, he must take the course of the intelligent believer whose aim is to recognize the good and pursue it with all his might. His purpose is not to boast over anyone, nor to disparage anyone. Muslim relates in his Ṣaḥīḥ, on the authority of ʿIyāḍ ibn Ḥimār al-Mujāshiʿī (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “It has been revealed to me that you must be humble, so that no one boasts over another and no one transgresses against another.”