Fudayl, Abd al-Wahhāb al-Thaqafī, and others of their generation. All the compilers of the canonical collections except al-Bukhārī narrated from him. He was reliable, highly accurate, and prolific in transmitting hadith. He died while serving at the frontier post of Ayn Zarbah (1), though I have not ascertained the date of his death with due precision.

2 — Ibrāhīm ibn Abd Allāh, Abū Ishāq al-Absī al-Kūfī al-Qassār (2). He heard hadith from Wakī ibn al-Jarrāh—and was the last surviving of Wakī’s students—as well as Jafar ibn Awn and a number of others. Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Aswārī, Abū al-Abbās al-Asamm, and others narrated from him. He was truthful and acceptable as a hadith transmitter. He died in Kufa in 279 AH.

3 — Ibrāhīm ibn Mūsā, Abū Ishāq al-Rāzī al-Farrā, known as “the Younger” (3). Ahmad ibn Hanbal would object when anyone called him “the Younger,” saying, “He is great in learning and eminence.” He transmitted from Abū al-Ahwas, Abd al-Wārith ibn Saīd, Ibn Uyaynah, Wakī, and others. Al-Bukhārī, Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, Abū Zurah, al-Tirmidhī, and many others narrated from him. Abū Hātim and al-Nasāī declared him reliable. He died around 230 AH.

4 — Ahmad ibn Badīl ibn Huraysh, Abū Jafar al-Kūfī (4). He narrated from Ibrāhīm ibn Uyaynah, Ishāq ibn Sulaymān al-Rāzī, and others. Al-Tirmidhī, Ibn Mājah, and others narrated from him. He was a man of learning and merit and held the judgeships of Kufa and Hamadan. He died in 258 AH.