Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī

This Aflaḥ did not see Abū Ḥanīfa; he met only Judge Abū Yūsuf. Aflaḥ was the first to bring Abū Ḥanīfa’s teachings to Bukhara. Abū Ḥafṣ al-Kabīr learned from him, then went to Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan.

Ḥammād's companions included Abū Bakr al-Nahshalī, Abū Burda al-ʿUtbī and Muḥammad ibn Jābir al-Ḥanafī—or, in another version, al-Juʿfī. When Ḥammād died, his son did not take his teaching seat because he was not a jurist. Abū Bakr al-Nahshalī did not take it because he was easily wearied, and Abū Burda did not take it. Abū Ḥanīfa therefore took the seat to teach jurisprudence, and Ḥammād's companions gathered around him.

Ibn Abī Laylā, Ibn Shubruma, Sharīk ibn ʿAbd Allāh, Sufyān al-Thawrī and al-Aʿmash opposed him. He continued until his position became established, without becoming weary. His companions gathered around him: Abū Yūsuf, Zufar, Asad ibn ʿAmr, al-Qāsim ibn Maʿn, al-Walīd, al-Ḥasan ibn Ziyād, Dāwūd al-Ṭāʾī, Yūsuf ibn Khālid al-Samtī, Zakariyyā ibn Abī Zāʾida, Nūḥ ibn Abī Maryam, ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak, al-Mughīra ibn Ḥamza and Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan. Forty men among Abū Ḥanīfa's companions composed books on jurisprudence, including the men just mentioned.

When Muḥammad ibn Abī Rajāʾ saw Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan in a dream, he asked: “What has God done with you?” He replied: “God said to me, ‘I did not place My wisdom in you in order to punish you.’” He was asked about Abū Yūsuf and replied: “He is one degree above me.” Asked about Abū Ḥanīfa, he said: “Far, far above, in the highest heights!” May God Most High have mercy on them.