Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān ibn Thābit

The judge Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṭālaqānī informed us: The judge Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣaymarī narrated to us in Baghdad, in the mosque of Darb al-Zarrādīn, in Ramaḍān of the year 404. He said: Abū ʿUbayd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿImrān ibn Mūsā al-Marzubānī informed us: Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad the scribe informed us: Aḥmad ibn Abī Khaythama narrated to us: I heard Muḥammad ibn Yazīd say: Abū Ḥanīfa was a client of Banū Taym Allāh ibn Thaʿlaba.

The judge Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ṭālaqānī informed us: The judge Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣaymarī narrated to us in Baghdad, in the mosque of Darb al-Zarrādīn, in Ramaḍān of the year 404. He said: Abū ʿUbayd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿImrān ibn Mūsā al-Marzubānī informed us: Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad the scribe informed us: Aḥmad ibn Abī Khaythama narrated to us: I heard Muḥammad ibn Yazīd say: Abū Ḥanīfa was a client of Banū Taym Allāh ibn Thaʿlaba.

Abū ʿAbd Allāh Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī informed us: Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Miskī narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Kaʾs al-Nakhaʿī narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAffān al-ʿĀmirī narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq al-Bakkāʾī narrated to us, from ʿUmar ibn Ḥammād ibn Abī Ḥanīfa, who said: Abū Ḥanīfa was al-Nuʿmān ibn Thābit ibn Zūṭā. Zūṭā was from Kabul. Thābit was born a Muslim. Zūṭā had been enslaved to Banū Taym Allāh ibn Thaʿlaba and was emancipated; his client affiliation belonged to Banū Taym Allāh ibn Thaʿlaba, then to Banū Qufl. Abū Ḥanīfa was a silk-fabric merchant, and his shop was known in the property of ʿAmr ibn Ḥurayth in Kufa.

Abū ʿAbd Allāh Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī informed us: Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Miskī narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Kaʾs al-Nakhaʿī narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAffān al-ʿĀmirī narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq al-Bakkāʾī narrated to us, from ʿUmar ibn Ḥammād ibn Abī Ḥanīfa, who said: Abū Ḥanīfa was al-Nuʿmān ibn Thābit ibn Zūṭā. Zūṭā was from Kabul. Thābit was born a Muslim. Zūṭā had been enslaved to Banū Taym Allāh ibn Thaʿlaba and was emancipated; his client affiliation belonged to Banū Taym Allāh ibn Thaʿlaba, then to Banū Qufl. Abū Ḥanīfa was a silk-fabric merchant, and his shop was known in the property of ʿAmr ibn Ḥurayth in Kufa.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq ibn al-Bahlūl narrated to us, from his father, from his grandfather, who said: Thābit, Abū Ḥanīfa’s father—may God have mercy on him—was from al-Anbār. It is also related that Abū Ḥanīfa’s origins were in Tirmidh, and also that his origins were in Nasā.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq ibn al-Bahlūl narrated to us, from his father, from his grandfather, who said: Thābit, Abū Ḥanīfa’s fatherwas from al-Anbār. It is also related that Abū Ḥanīfa’s origins were in Tirmidh, and also that his origins were in Nasā.

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the Qurʾan reciter informed us: Makram ibn Aḥmad informed us: Aḥmad ibn ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Shādhān al-Marwazī narrated to us: My father narrated to us, from my grandfather, who said: I heard Ismāʿīl ibn Ḥammād ibn Abī Ḥanīfa say: I am Ismāʿīl ibn Ḥammād ibn al-Nuʿmān ibn Thābit ibn al-Nuʿmān ibn al-Marzubān, descended from the free men of Persia. By God, enslavement never befell us. My grandfather was born in the year 80. Thābit went to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may God be pleased with him, when he was young, and ʿAlī prayed for blessing upon him and his descendants. We hope that God answered ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib’s prayer concerning us. He said: Al-Nuʿmān ibn al-Marzubān, Thābit’s father, was the man who gave ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib fālūdhaj on Nowruz. ʿAlī said: Let every day be our Nowruz. It is also said that this happened at Mihrjān, and that he said: Let every day be our Mihrjān.

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the Qurʾan reciter informed us: Makram ibn Aḥmad informed us: Aḥmad ibn ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Shādhān al-Marwazī narrated to us: My father narrated to me, from my grandfather, who said: I heard Ismāʿīl ibn Ḥammād ibn Abī Ḥanīfa say: I am Ismāʿīl ibn Ḥammād ibn al-Nuʿmān ibn Thābit ibn al-Nuʿmān ibn al-Marzubān, descended from the free men of Persia. By God, enslavement never befell us. My grandfather was born in the year 80. Thābit went to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may God be pleased with him, when he was young, and ʿAlī prayed for blessing upon him and his descendants. We hope that God Most High answered ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib’s prayer concerning us. He said: Al-Nuʿmān ibn al-Marzubān, Thābit’s father, was the man who gave ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib fālūdhaj on Nowruz. ʿAlī said: Let every day be our Nowruz. It is also said that this happened at Mihrjān, and that he said: Let every day be our Mihrjān.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram ibn Aḥmad narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Muḥammad al-Marwazī narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn al-Qāsim narrated to me: Al-Birtī the judge narrated to us: I heard Abū Nuʿaym say: Abū Ḥanīfa was handsome, with a fine face, fine beard, and fine clothing.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram ibn Aḥmad narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Muḥammad al-Marwazī narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn al-Qāsim narrated to me: Al-Birtī the judge narrated to us: I heard Abū Nuʿaym say: Abū Ḥanīfa—may God have mercy on him—was handsome, with a fine face, fine beard, and fine clothing.

ʿUmar informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: I heard Abū Nuʿaym say: Abū Ḥanīfa—may God have mercy on him—had a fine face, clothes, and sandals, and showed kindness and generous support to everyone around him. The first person to write down his books was Asad ibn ʿAmr al-Bajalī, whose kunyah was Abū ʿAmr.

ʿUmar informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: I heard Abū Nuʿaym say: Abū Ḥanīfa—may God have mercy on him—had a fine face, clothes, and sandals, and showed kindness and generous support to everyone around him. The first person to write down his books was Asad ibn ʿAmr al-Bajalī, whose kunyah was Abū ʿAmr.

ʿUmar informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Mufallis narrated to us: Al-Ḥimmānī narrated to us: I heard Ibn al-Mubārak say: How dignified Abū Ḥanīfa’s gathering was! The jurists imitated him. He had a fine bearing, fine face, and fine clothes. One day we were in the congregational mosque when a snake fell into Abū Ḥanīfa’s lap. Everyone fled except him. I saw him do nothing more than shake the snake off and remain seated where he was.

ʿUmar informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Mufallis narrated to us: Al-Ḥimmānī narrated to us: I heard Ibn al-Mubārak say: How dignified Abū Ḥanīfa’s gathering was! The jurists imitated him. He had a fine bearing, fine face, and fine clothes. One day we were in the congregational mosque when a snake dropped down and landed in Abū Ḥanīfa’s lap. Everyone fled except him. I saw him do nothing more than shake the snake off and remain seated where he was.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī—God’s mercy be upon him—informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr al-Ḥarīrī narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAffān narrated to us: I heard Nimr ibn Jidār say: I heard Abū Yūsuf say: Abū Ḥanīfa—may God have mercy on him—was of medium height, neither short nor tall. He spoke more beautifully than anyone, had the sweetest voice, and expressed what he intended most clearly.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafīinformed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr al-Ḥarīrī narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAffān narrated to us: I heard Nimr ibn Jidār say: I heard Abū Yūsuf say: Abū Ḥanīfa—may God have mercy on him—was of medium height, neither short nor tall. He spoke more beautifully than anyone, had the sweetest voice, and expressed what he intended most clearly.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn Isḥāq ibn ʿUmar ibn Ḥammād ibn Abī Ḥanīfa narrated to us that Abū Ḥanīfa was tall and dark-complexioned. He dressed well, had a fine appearance, and used much perfume. When he approached, or left his home, he was recognized by the scent of his perfume before he was seen.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn Isḥāq ibn ʿUmar ibn Ḥammād ibn Abī Ḥanīfa narrated to us that Abū Ḥanīfa—may God have mercy on him—was tall and dark-complexioned. He dressed well, had a fine appearance, and used much perfume. When he approached, or left his home, he was recognized by the scent of his perfume before he was seen.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the Qurʾān reciter and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad the witness informed us: Makram ibn Aḥmad narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn al-Qāsim narrated to me: Al-Birtī the judge narrated to us: I heard Abū Nuʿaym say: Abū Ḥanīfa was born in the year 80.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the Qurʾān reciter and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad the witness informed us: Makram ibn Aḥmad narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn al-Qāsim narrated to me: Al-Birtī the judge narrated to us: I heard Abū Nuʿaym say: Abū Ḥanīfa was born in the year 80.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr al-Ḥarīrī narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī narrated to us: Al-Ḥārith ibn Abī Usāma narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Saʿd narrated to us: I heard al-Wāqidī say: Ḥammād ibn Abī Ḥanīfa narrated to me: Abū Ḥanīfa was born in the year 80.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr al-Ḥarīrī narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī narrated to us: Al-Ḥārith ibn Abī Usāma narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Saʿd narrated to us: I heard al-Wāqidī say: Ḥammād ibn Abī Ḥanīfa narrated to me: Abū Ḥanīfa was born in the year 80.

Hilāl narrated to us: My father Abū ʿUbayd Allāh narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Ḥamdān narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn al-Ṣalt narrated to us, from Bishr ibn al-Walīd, from Abū Yūsuf, from Abū Ḥanīfa, who said: I heard Anas ibn Mālik, may God be pleased with him, say: I heard the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, say: “One who directs others to good is like its doer, and God loves helping the distressed.” Abū Bakr Hilāl said to us: Abū Ḥanīfa also lived in the time of the Companions ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Awfā and Abū al-Ṭufayl ʿĀmir ibn Wāthila; both were Companions.

Hilāl narrated to us: My father Abū ʿUbayd Allāh narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Ḥamdān narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn al-Ṣalt narrated to us, from Bishr ibn al-Walīd, from Abū Yūsuf, from Abū Ḥanīfa, who said: I heard Anas ibn Mālik, may God be pleased with him, say: I heard the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, say: “One who directs others to good is like its doer, and God loves helping the distressed.” Abū Bakr Hilāl said to us: Abū Ḥanīfa also lived in the time of the Companions ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Awfā and Abū al-Ṭufayl ʿĀmir ibn Wāthila; both were Companions.

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥulwānī informed us: Abū Bakr Makram ibn Aḥmad narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad narrated to us: I heard Abū Nuʿaym say: Abū Ḥanīfa was born in the year 80 and died in the year 150. He saw Anas ibn Mālik in the year 95 and heard from him.

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥulwānī informed us: Abū Bakr Makram ibn Aḥmad narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad narrated to us: I heard Abū Nuʿaym say: Abū Ḥanīfa was born in the year 80 and died in the year 150. He saw Anas ibn Mālik in the year 95 and heard from him.

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the Qurʾān reciter informed us: Makram ibn Aḥmad narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad narrated to us: Ibn Samāʿa and Bishr ibn al-Walīd narrated to us, from Abū Yūsuf, from Abū Ḥanīfa, who said: All our scholars used to say that the two prostrations for forgetfulness come after the salutation, and that one recites the testimony of faith and gives the salutation with them. Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān said: This is how Anas ibn Mālik gives his ruling. Abū Ḥanīfa said: I asked Anas ibn Mālik, and he said: That is how it is.

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the Qurʾān reciter informed us: Makram ibn Aḥmad narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad narrated to us: Ibn Samāʿa and Bishr ibn al-Walīd narrated to us, from Abū Yūsuf, from Abū Ḥanīfa, who said: All our scholars used to say that the two prostrations for forgetfulness come after the salutation, and that one recites the testimony of faith and gives the salutation with them. Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān said: This is how Anas ibn Mālik gives his ruling. Abū Ḥanīfa said: I asked Anas ibn Mālik, and he said: That is how it is.

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Minjāb narrated to us: Sharīk narrated to us, from Ḥuṣayn, who said: A woman came to Abū Ḥanīfa’s circle while he was studying theology and put a question to him and his companions. They could give no adequate answer. She went to Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān, asked him, and he answered her. She returned and said: You misled me! I heard your discourse, but you could do nothing properly. Abū Ḥanīfa got up and went to Ḥammād, who asked him: What brought you? He said: I seek jurisprudence. He said: Learn three questions every day, and do not add anything beyond them until some knowledge becomes established for you. He did so and kept attending the circle until he became learned in jurisprudence. People then pointed him out with their fingers.

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Minjāb narrated to us: Sharīk narrated to us, from Ḥuṣayn, who said: A woman came to Abū Ḥanīfa’s circle while he was studying theology and put a question to him and his companions. They could give no adequate answer. She went to Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān, asked him, and he answered her. She returned and said: You misled me! I heard your discourse, but you could do nothing properly. Abū Ḥanīfa got up and went to Ḥammād, who asked him: What brought you? He said: I seek jurisprudence. He said: Learn three questions every day, and do not add anything beyond them until some knowledge becomes established for you. He did so and kept attending the circle until he became learned in jurisprudence. People then pointed him out with their fingers.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Hannād ibn al-Sarī narrated to us: I heard Yūnus ibn Bukayr say: I heard Ismāʿīl ibn Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān say: My father was away on a journey, and then returned. I asked him: Father, whom did you miss most? I thought he would say: My son. Instead he said: Abū Ḥanīfa. If I could never raise my eyes away from him, I would do so.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Hannād ibn al-Sarī narrated to us: I heard Yūnus ibn Bukayr say: I heard Ismāʿīl ibn Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān say: My father was away on a journey, and then returned. I asked him: Father, whom did you miss most? I thought he would say: My son. Instead he said: Abū Ḥanīfa. If I could never raise my eyes away from him, I would do so.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥulwānī informed us: Makram narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn ʿAbd Allāh narrated to me, from al-Qāsim ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿĀmir, who said: ʿUmayr ibn ʿAmmār al-Hamdānī narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Abān al-Qurashī informed us: Abū Ḥanīfa said to me: I pray to God for Ḥammād, mentioning him before my parents.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥulwānī informed us: Makram narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn ʿUbayd Allāh narrated to me, from al-Qāsim ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿĀmir, who said: ʿUmayr ibn ʿAmmār al-Hamdānī narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Abān al-Qurashī informed us: Abū Ḥanīfa said to me: I pray to God for Ḥammād, mentioning him before my parents.

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the Qurʾān reciter informed us: Makram ibn Aḥmad narrated to us: Ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Ibn ʿĀbis narrated to us: I heard Ḥammād ibn Salama say: After Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī’s death, the mufti of Kufa and the person to whom people looked in jurisprudence was Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān. He supplied the people’s needs. When he died, they needed someone to sit and teach them. His companions feared that his memory would die and knowledge disappear. Ḥammād had a son with good knowledge, and they agreed upon him. His father’s companions—Abū Bakr al-Nahshalī, Abū Burda al-ʿUtbī, Muḥammad ibn Jābir al-Ḥanafī, and others—came and attended him. But grammar and Arab speech predominated in his interests, and he could not patiently remain sitting with them. Their opinion then settled on Abū Bakr al-Nahshalī. They asked him, but he declined. They asked Abū Burda, but he declined. Then they asked Abū Ḥanīfa. He said: I do not wish knowledge to die. He agreed and sat to teach them, and they attended him. After them came Abū Yūsuf, Asad ibn ʿAmr, al-Qāsim ibn Maʿn, Zufar ibn al-Hudhayl, al-Walīd, and men from Kufa. Abū Ḥanīfa taught them understanding of religion, showing them great kindness and continual care. Ibn Abī Laylā, Ibn Shubruma, Sharīk, and Sufyān opposed him and sought to discredit him. This continued until his position became firmly established, the governors needed him, and the caliphs spoke of him.

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the Qurʾān reciter informed us: Makram ibn Aḥmad narrated to us: Ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Ibn ʿĀbis narrated to us: I heard Ḥammād ibn Salama say: After Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī’s death, the mufti of Kufa and the person to whom people looked in jurisprudence was Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān. He supplied the people’s needs. When he died, they needed someone to sit and teach them. His companions feared that his memory would die and knowledge disappear. Ḥammād had a son with good knowledge, and they agreed upon him. His father’s companions—Abū Bakr al-Nahshalī, Abū Burda al-ʿUtbī, Muḥammad ibn Jābir al-Ḥanafī, and others—came and attended him. But grammar and Arab speech predominated in his interests, and he could not patiently remain sitting with them. Their opinion then settled on Abū Bakr al-Nahshalī. They asked him, but he declined. They asked Abū Burda, but he declined. Then they asked Abū Ḥanīfa. He said: I do not wish knowledge to die. He agreed and sat to teach them, and they attended him. After them came Abū Yūsuf, Asad ibn ʿAmr, al-Qāsim ibn Maʿn, Zufar ibn al-Hudhayl, al-Walīd, and men from Kufa. Abū Ḥanīfa taught them understanding of religion, showing them great kindness and continual care. Ibn Abī Laylā, Ibn Shubruma, Sharīk, and Sufyān opposed him and sought to discredit him. This continued until his position became firmly established, the governors needed him, and the caliphs spoke of him.

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥulwānī informed us: Makram ibn Aḥmad narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Al-Ḥasan ibn al-Rabīʿ narrated to us: Ibn al-Mubārak narrated to us: I heard Dāwūd al-Ṭāʾī say: The people’s mufti in Kufa was Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān. Ḥammād had a son called Ismāʿīl ibn Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān. When Ḥammād died, they agreed that Ismāʿīl should sit to teach them and patiently attend to them. But they found that poetry, evening conversation, and accounts of bygone people predominated in his interests. Abū Bakr al-Nahshalī, one of Ḥammād’s companions, Abū Burda, Muḥammad ibn Jābir al-Ḥanafī, and a group of Ḥammād’s companions spoke; Abū Ḥuṣayn and Ḥabīb ibn Abī Thābit said: This silk merchant has good knowledge, though he is young; have him sit to teach. They did so. He was wealthy, generous, and intelligent. He sat and patiently devoted himself to them, generously supported them and gave them gifts. Judges and governors honored him, and his standing rose. The senior generation attended him; after them came Abū Yūsuf, Asad ibn ʿAmr, al-Qāsim ibn Maʿn, Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī, and al-Walīd ibn Abān. Those who opposed him and criticized him were Ibn Abī Laylā, Ibn Shubruma, al-Thawrī, Sharīk, and a group who disagreed with him and sought to discredit him. His standing continued to rise and his companions multiplied until his circle was the largest in the mosque and the most ample in answering questions. He was patient with them, generously provided for every needy person among them, and gave gifts to every prosperous person. People’s attention turned toward him until governors, judges, and nobles honored him. He met extraordinary expenses, everyone praised him, and he accomplished things that defeated the Arabs. His broad knowledge enabled him, and destiny favored him; those who envied him multiplied. He used to say: A judge is like a swimmer in the sea: how long can he swim, and whom can he satisfy, even if he is learned?

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥulwānī informed us: Makram ibn Aḥmad narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Al-Ḥasan ibn al-Rabīʿ narrated to us: Ibn al-Mubārak narrated to us: I heard Dāwūd al-Ṭāʾī say: The people’s mufti in Kufa was Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān. Ḥammād had a son called Ismāʿīl ibn Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān. When Ḥammād died, they agreed that Ismāʿīl should sit to teach them and patiently attend to them. But they found that poetry, evening conversation, and accounts of bygone people predominated in his interests. Abū Bakr al-Nahshalī, one of Ḥammād’s companions, Abū Burda, Muḥammad ibn Jābir al-Ḥanafī, and a group of Ḥammād’s companions spoke; Abū Ḥuṣayn and Ḥabīb ibn Abī Thābit said: This silk merchant has good knowledge, though he is young; have him sit to teach. They did so. He was wealthy, generous, and intelligent. He sat and patiently devoted himself to them, generously supported them and gave them gifts. Judges and governors honored him, and his standing rose. The senior generation attended him; after them came Abū Yūsuf, Asad ibn ʿAmr, al-Qāsim ibn Maʿn, Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī, and al-Walīd ibn Abān. Those who opposed him and criticized him were Ibn Abī Laylā, Ibn Shubruma, al-Thawrī, Sharīk, and a group who disagreed with him and sought to discredit him. His standing continued to rise and his companions multiplied until his circle was the largest in the mosque and the most ample in answering questions. He was patient with them, provided abundantly for every needy person among them, and gave gifts to every prosperous person. People’s attention turned toward him until governors, judges, and nobles honored him. He met extraordinary expenses, everyone praised him, and he accomplished things that defeated the Arabs. His broad knowledge enabled him, and destiny favored him; those who envied him multiplied. He used to say: A judge is like a swimmer in the sea: how long can he swim, and whom can he satisfy, even if he is learned?

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the reciter informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Naṣr ibn ʿAlī narrated to us: I heard Khālid ibn al-Ḥārith say: I heard Shuʿba say: I heard Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān say: Abū Ḥanīfa—may God have mercy on him—sat with us with good bearing, dignity, and scrupulousness. We nourished him with knowledge until his questions became subtle, and I feared for him because of that. By God, he understood well and retained well, until people vilified him over matters that, by God, he understood better than they. They will meet God tomorrow. I know that knowledge is al-Nuʿmān’s companion just as I know that daylight has a radiance that dispels the night’s darkness.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the reciter informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Naṣr ibn ʿAlī narrated to us: I heard Khālid ibn al-Ḥārith say: I heard Shuʿba say: I heard Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān say: Abū Ḥanīfa—may God have mercy on him—sat with us with good bearing, dignity, and scrupulousness. We nourished him with knowledge until his questions became subtle, and I feared for him because of that. By God, he understood well and retained well, until people vilified him over matters that, by God, he understood better than they. Let them meet God tomorrow. I know that knowledge is al-Nuʿmān’s companion just as I know that daylight has a radiance that dispels the night’s darkness.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Abū Ghassān narrated to us: I heard Isrāʾīl say: What a fine man al-Nuʿmān was! How well he retained every report containing jurisprudence, how thoroughly he examined it, and how well he knew its jurisprudential content! He preserved what he received from Ḥammād with excellent precision. Caliphs, governors, and ministers honored him. When a man debated him on a point of jurisprudence, his own concern preoccupied him. Misʿar used to say: Whoever makes Abū Ḥanīfa his guide in matters between himself and God, I hope, need have no fear and has not neglected to take precautions for himself.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Abū Ghassān narrated to us: I heard Isrāʾīl say: What a fine man al-Nuʿmān was! How well he retained every report containing jurisprudence, how thoroughly he examined it, and how well he knew its jurisprudential content! He preserved what he received from Ḥammād with excellent precision. Caliphs, governors, and ministers honored him. When a man debated him on a point of jurisprudence, his own concern preoccupied him. Misʿar used to say: Whoever makes Abū Ḥanīfa his guide in matters between himself and God, I hope, need have no fear and has not neglected to take precautions for himself.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr al-Ḥarīrī narrated to us: The judge ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī narrated to us: Sulaymān ibn al-Rabīʿ al-Ḥaddād narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Ḥafṣ narrated to us, from al-Ḥasan ibn Sulaymān, who explained the report, ‘The Hour will not come until knowledge becomes manifest,’ by saying: It means Abū Ḥanīfa’s knowledge and his interpretation of transmitted reports.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr al-Ḥarīrī narrated to us: The judge ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī narrated to us: Sulaymān ibn al-Rabīʿ al-Ḥaddād narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Ḥafṣ narrated to us, from al-Ḥasan ibn Sulaymān, who explained the report, ‘The Hour will not come until knowledge becomes manifest,’ by saying: It means Abū Ḥanīfa’s knowledge and his interpretation of transmitted reports.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad informed us: Abū Bakr al-Miskī narrated to us: The judge al-Nakhaʿī narrated to us: Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib narrated to us: I heard ʿAlī ibn ʿĀṣim say: If Abū Ḥanīfa’s knowledge were weighed against the knowledge of the people of his age, it would outweigh theirs.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad informed us: Abū Bakr al-Miskī narrated to us: The judge al-Nakhaʿī narrated to us: Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib narrated to us: I heard ʿAlī ibn ʿĀṣim say: If Abū Ḥanīfa’s knowledge were weighed against the knowledge of the people of his age, it would outweigh theirs.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad the witness informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Samāʿa narrated to us: Abū Yūsuf narrated to us: Abū Ḥanīfa said: A person whose company is tiresome does not understand jurisprudence, its worth, or the worth of its practitioners. He used to say: “May we be rid of tiresome people in every town; O Lord, grant no forgiveness to anyone tiresome!”

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad the witness informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Samāʿa narrated to us: Abū Yūsuf narrated to us: Abū Ḥanīfa said: A person whose company is tiresome does not understand jurisprudence, its worth, or the worth of its practitioners. He used to say: “May we be rid of tiresome people in every town; O Lord, grant no forgiveness to anyone tiresome!”

Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan al-Rāzī narrated to us: Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Zaʿfarānī narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Abī Khaythama narrated to us: I heard Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn say: ʿUbayd ibn Abī Qurra narrated to me: I heard Yaḥyā ibn al-Ḍurays say: I was with Sufyān al-Thawrī when a man of standing in knowledge and worship came to him and said: Abū ʿAbd Allāh, what do you object to in Abū Ḥanīfa? He asked: What about him? The man said: I heard him make a fair and well-supported statement: I follow God’s Book when I find the matter there. When I do not find it there, I follow the Sunna of God’s Messenger and the sound reports from him that have circulated among trustworthy people transmitting from trustworthy people. If I find nothing in God’s Book or the Sunna of God’s Messenger, I adopt the statement of whichever of his Companions I wish and leave that of whichever I wish; then I do not go beyond their statements to anyone else’s. But when the matter reaches Ibrāhīm, al-Shaʿbī, al-Ḥasan, Ibn Sīrīn, Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab—he named men who exercised independent judgment—I may exercise independent judgment as they did. Sufyān was silent a long time. Then he expressed some words of his own opinion, which everyone in the gathering wrote down: We hear severe reports and fear them; we hear lenient reports and hope in them. We do not call the living to account or pass judgment on the dead. We accept what we have heard and entrust what we cannot understand to the one who knows it. We suspect our own opinion in comparison with theirs.

Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan al-Rāzī narrated to us: Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Zaʿfarānī narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Abī Khaythama narrated to us: I heard Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn say: ʿUbayd ibn Abī Qurra narrated to me: I heard Yaḥyā ibn al-Ḍurays say: I was with Sufyān al-Thawrī when a man of standing in knowledge and worship came to him and said: Abū ʿAbd Allāh, what do you object to in Abū Ḥanīfa? He asked: What about him? The man said: I heard him make a fair and well-supported statement: I follow God’s Book when I find the matter there. When I do not find it there, I follow the Sunna of God’s Messenger—God bless him and grant him peace— and the sound reports from him that have circulated among trustworthy people transmitting from trustworthy people. If I find nothing in God’s Book or the Sunna of God’s Messenger—God bless him and grant him peace—, I adopt the statement of whichever of his Companions I wish and leave that of whichever I wish; then I do not go beyond their statements to anyone else’s. But when the matter reaches Ibrāhīm, al-Shaʿbī, al-Ḥasan, Ibn Sīrīn, Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab—he named men who exercised independent judgment—I may exercise independent judgment as they did. Sufyān was silent a long time. Then he expressed some words of his own opinion, which everyone in the gathering wrote down: We hear severe reports and fear them; we hear lenient reports and hope in them. We do not call the living to account or pass judgment on the dead. We accept what we have heard and entrust what we cannot understand to the one who knows it. We suspect our own opinion in comparison with theirs.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūnus narrated to us: Al-Ḥasan ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated to us: Abū Ḥanīfa examined closely which reports abrogated others and which were abrogated. He acted upon a report when it was established for him from the Prophet—God bless him and grant him peace—or his Companions. He knew the reports and jurisprudence of Kufa’s people and closely followed the practice of the people of his town. He used to say: God’s Book contains abrogating and abrogated passages, and hadith contains abrogating and abrogated reports. He retained the final practice of God’s Messenger—God bless him and grant him peace—upon which he died, insofar as it had reached the people of his town.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūnus narrated to us: Al-Ḥasan ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated to us: Abū Ḥanīfa examined closely which reports abrogated others and which were abrogated. He acted upon a report when it was established for him from the Prophet—God bless him and grant him peace—or his Companions. He knew the reports and jurisprudence of Kufa’s people and closely followed the practice of the people of his town. He used to say: God’s Book contains abrogating and abrogated passages, and hadith contains abrogating and abrogated reports. He retained the final practice of God’s Messenger—God bless him and grant him peace—upon which he died, insofar as it had reached the people of his town.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī narrated to us: I heard ʿAbd al-Razzāq say: I was with Maʿmar when Ibn al-Mubārak came to him. We heard Maʿmar say: I know no man who discusses jurisprudence, is qualified to reason by analogy and derive jurisprudential rulings, and possesses better knowledge than Abū Ḥanīfa—may God have mercy on him. Nor do I know anyone more fearful for himself about introducing anything doubtful into God’s religion than Abū Ḥanīfa—may God have mercy on him.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī narrated to us: I heard ʿAbd al-Razzāq say: I was with Maʿmar when Ibn al-Mubārak came to him. We heard Maʿmar say: I know no man who discusses jurisprudence, is qualified to reason by analogy and derive jurisprudential rulings, and possesses better knowledge than Abū Ḥanīfa—may God have mercy on him. Nor do I know anyone more fearful for himself about introducing anything doubtful into God’s religion than Abū Ḥanīfa—may God have mercy on him.

ʿUmar informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: I heard Muḥammad ibn Samāʿa say: I heard Abū Yūsuf say: Whenever I disagreed with Abū Ḥanīfa on anything and considered it carefully, the position he adopted proved safer in the hereafter. I sometimes inclined toward a report, but he understood sound reports better than I did.

ʿUmar informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: I heard Muḥammad ibn Samāʿa say: I heard Abū Yūsuf say: Whenever I disagreed with Abū Ḥanīfa on anything and considered it carefully, the position he adopted proved safer in the hereafter. I sometimes inclined toward a report, but he understood sound reports better than I did.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Mūsā ibn Sulaymān, Muḥammad ibn Samāʿa, and Bishr ibn al-Walīd—God’s mercy upon them—narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan—may God have mercy on him—narrated to us: Abū Ḥanīfa—God’s mercy upon him—debated his companions about analogies, and they could hold their own and oppose him. But when he said, ‘I adopt juristic preference,’ none could keep up with him because of the many cases he brought forward under juristic preference. They would all desist and concede to him.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Mūsā ibn Sulaymān, Muḥammad ibn Samāʿa, and Bishr ibn al-Walīdnarrated to us: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasannarrated to us: Abū Ḥanīfadebated his companions about analogies, and they could hold their own and oppose him. But when he said, ‘I adopt juristic preference,’ none could keep up with him because of the many cases he brought forward under juristic preference. They would all desist and concede to him.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Muqātil narrated to us: I heard Ibn al-Mubārak being asked: When is a man qualified to issue legal rulings, take judicial office, or adjudicate? He said: When he knows hadith, understands legal reasoning, knows Abū Ḥanīfa’s statements, and retains them.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Muqātil narrated to us: I heard Ibn al-Mubārak being asked: When is a man qualified to issue legal rulings, take judicial office, or adjudicate? He said: When he knows hadith, understands legal reasoning, knows Abū Ḥanīfa’s statements, and retains them.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: I heard al-Muzanī say: I heard al-Shāfiʿī say: People depend upon Abū Ḥanīfa in analogy and juristic preference.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: I heard al-Muzanī say: I heard al-Shāfiʿī say: People depend upon Abū Ḥanīfa in analogy and juristic preference.

ʿUmar informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Muqātil narrated to us: I heard Ibn al-Mubārak say: Muḥammad ibn Wāsiʿ came to Khurasan. Qabīṣa said: The man whose prayers are answered has come to you. People gathered around him and asked him jurisprudential questions. He said: Jurisprudence is the craft of a young man in Kufa whose kunyah is Abū Ḥanīfa. They said: He does not know hadith. Ibn al-Mubārak said: How can you say he does not know it? He was asked about exchanging fresh dates for dried dates and said: There is no harm in it. They said: What about Saʿd’s report? He said: That is an anomalous report; Zayd Abū ʿAyyāsh’s transmission is not accepted. Would someone who said this not know hadith?

ʿUmar informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Muqātil narrated to us: I heard Ibn al-Mubārak say: Muḥammad ibn Wāsiʿ came to Khurasan. Qabīṣa said: The man whose prayers are answered has come to you. People gathered around him and asked him jurisprudential questions. He said: Jurisprudence is the craft of a young man in Kufa whose kunyah is Abū Ḥanīfa. They said: He does not know hadith. Ibn al-Mubārak said: How can you say he does not know it? He was asked about exchanging fresh dates for dried dates and said: There is no harm in it. They said: What about Saʿd’s report? He said: That is an anomalous report; Zayd Abū ʿAyyāsh’s transmission is not accepted. Would someone who said this not know hadith?

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Minjāb narrated to us: Sharīk narrated to us: We were with al-Aʿmash, and Yaʿqūb was with us. Al-Aʿmash said: Yaʿqūb, why did your companion Abū Ḥanīfa abandon Ibn Masʿūd’s statement that a slave woman’s emancipation constitutes her divorce? He said: He abandoned it because of a report you narrated to us from Ibrāhīm, from al-Aswad, that when Barīra was emancipated she was given a choice. Al-Aʿmash said: Abū Ḥanīfa has an excellent understanding of where knowledge applies. He had perceived it, and he admired the knowledge Abū Ḥanīfa adopted and the clarity of what he presented.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Minjāb narrated to us: Sharīk narrated to us: We were with al-Aʿmash, and Yaʿqūb was with us. Al-Aʿmash said: Yaʿqūb, why did your companion Abū Ḥanīfa abandon Ibn Masʿūd’s statement that a slave woman’s emancipation constitutes her divorce? He said: He abandoned it because of a report you narrated to us from Ibrāhīm, from al-Aswad, that when Barīra was emancipated she was given a choice. Al-Aʿmash said: Abū Ḥanīfa has an excellent understanding of where knowledge applies. He had perceived it, and he admired the knowledge Abū Ḥanīfa adopted and the clarity of what he presented.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Maʿbad narrated to us: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar narrated to us: We were with al-Aʿmash while he asked Abū Ḥanīfa questions and Abū Ḥanīfa answered him. Al-Aʿmash would ask: Where did you get this? He would reply: You narrated to us such-and-such from Ibrāhīm, and such-and-such from al-Shaʿbī. At that al-Aʿmash would say: You jurists are the physicians, and we are the pharmacists.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Maʿbad narrated to us: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar narrated to us: We were with al-Aʿmash while he asked Abū Ḥanīfa questions and Abū Ḥanīfa answered him. Al-Aʿmash would ask: Where did you get this? He would reply: You narrated to us such-and-such from Ibrāhīm, and such-and-such from al-Shaʿbī. At that al-Aʿmash would say: You jurists are the physicians, and we are the pharmacists.

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the reciter informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Ibn Samāʿa narrated to us: I heard Abū Yūsuf say: Abū Ḥanīfa went on pilgrimage, and the problem of the houses arose in Kufa. Ibn Shubruma, Ibn Abī Laylā, al-Thawrī, and Kufa’s people were asked, but had nothing to offer. Abū Ḥanīfa’s companions were asked, but had no answer. They said: Only Abū Ḥanīfa can solve it. We yearned so eagerly for his arrival that we feared for him and ourselves. We feared he would be unable to answer, and his standing and ours would disappear together, until some of us wished him dead. When Abū Ḥanīfa approached Kufa, I went to meet him, thinking: I will tell him the question so perhaps he can consider it before being asked. When I met him he said: Yaʿqūb! He took me along with him. Then many people came out to meet him, and I could not say anything about it. He called for a riding animal and mounted it, and put me on an animal with him. The other people rode around us until the roads became crowded. When he arrived, he came to the mosque and prayed two units. People gathered, and the first thing he was asked was the question that had arisen about the houses. When it was put to him he lowered his head. When I saw him lower his head, I knew that a solution would emerge. Then he raised his head and said: The answer is such-and-such. We and the people rejoiced. After Abū Ḥanīfa died, I was one day in the caliph’s residence when a distinguished man passed us. They said: This is the mathematician. The caliph’s associates treated him with great respect. I called him over and put a jurisprudential topic to him. I had become uncertain about something Abū Ḥanīfa had said in that problem, so I said: We have needed calculation for this. I explained it to him, and he said: Work it through such-and-such a method. I did, but it did not yield a solution. He proposed another method; I tried it, but it did not work. He kept proposing methods without obtaining a solution. He said: Only one method remains; if it works, well and good, otherwise there is absolutely no method that will solve it. He mentioned Abū Ḥanīfa’s approach. I applied it and obtained the solution, but said: It does not work. I feared that he would go away and work that problem out by it. I then went away, developed the method, and worked problems through it. Whenever I met him and he asked me, I obscured the answer lest he perceive it. He was a versatile mathematician.

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the reciter informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Ibn Samāʿa narrated to us: I heard Abū Yūsuf say: Abū Ḥanīfa went on pilgrimage, and the problem of the houses arose in Kufa. Ibn Shubruma, Ibn Abī Laylā, al-Thawrī, and Kufa’s people were asked, but had nothing to offer. Abū Ḥanīfa’s companions were asked, but had no answer. They said: Only Abū Ḥanīfa can solve it. We yearned so eagerly for his arrival that we feared for him and ourselves. We feared he would be unable to answer, and his standing and ours would disappear together, until some of us wished him dead. When Abū Ḥanīfa approached Kufa, I went to meet him, thinking: I will tell him the question so perhaps he can consider it before being asked. When I met him he said: Yaʿqūb! He took me along with him. Then many people came out to meet him, and I could not say anything about it. He called for a riding animal and mounted it, and put me on an animal with him. The other people rode around us until the roads became crowded. When he arrived, he came to the mosque and prayed two units. People gathered, and the first thing he was asked was the question that had arisen about the houses. When it was put to him he lowered his head. When I saw him lower his head, I knew that a solution would emerge. Then he raised his head and said: The answer is such-and-such. We and the people rejoiced. After Abū Ḥanīfa died, I was one day in the caliph’s residence when a distinguished man passed us. They said: This is the mathematician. The caliph’s associates treated him with great respect. I called him over and put a jurisprudential topic to him. I had become uncertain about something Abū Ḥanīfa had said in that problem, so I said: We have needed calculation for this. I explained it to him, and he said: Work it through such-and-such a method. I did, but it did not yield a solution. He proposed another method; I tried it, but it did not work. He kept proposing methods without obtaining a solution. He said: Only one method remains; if it works, well and good, otherwise there is absolutely no method that will solve it. He mentioned Abū Ḥanīfa’s approach. I applied it and obtained the solution, but said: It does not work. I feared that he would go away and work that problem out by it. I then went away, developed the method, and worked problems through it. Whenever I met him and he asked me, I obscured the answer lest he perceive it. He was a versatile mathematician.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad the witness informed us: Makram narrated to us: Ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Bishr ibn al-Walīd narrated to us: I heard Abū Yūsuf say: I heard Dāwūd al-Ṭāʾī say: When Abū al-ʿAbbās arrived in Kufa, he summoned the scholars and gathered them. He said: This authority has passed to your Prophet’s household. God has brought you bounty and the establishment of justice. You scholars are the most entitled to help with it. You may have whatever gifts, honors, and hospitality you wish from God’s wealth. Pledge allegiance, a pledge that provides your imam with a binding claim upon you and gives you security at your resurrection. Do not meet God without an imam and thus be among those with no justification. Do not say: We fear the Commander of the Faithful too much to speak the truth. The people looked toward Abū Ḥanīfa. He said: If you want me to speak for myself and you, remain silent. They said: We want that. He said: Praise be to God who has brought justice to the Prophet’s kin—God bless him and grant him peace—removed the oppression of tyrants from us, and freed our tongues to speak truth. We have pledged allegiance to you according to God’s command, and fidelity to you according to God’s covenant, until the rising of the Hour. May God never deprive this authority of those related to His Prophet. Abū al-ʿAbbās answered him graciously, and said: Someone like you should speak for the scholars. They chose you well, and you conveyed the message well. When they left, they asked him: What did you mean by ‘until the rising of the hour’? The hour has already elapsed! He said: If you contrive against me, I will contrive for myself and leave you to the ordeal. They remained silent and knew that what he had done was right. [The account plays on sāʿa, meaning both ‘hour’ and the final Hour.]

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad the witness informed us: Makram narrated to us: Ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Bishr ibn al-Walīd narrated to us: I heard Abū Yūsuf say: I heard Dāwūd al-Ṭāʾī say: When Abū al-ʿAbbās arrived in Kufa, he summoned the scholars and gathered them. He said: This authority has passed to your Prophet’s household. God has brought you bounty and the establishment of justice. You scholars are the most entitled to help with it. You may have whatever gifts, honors, and hospitality you wish from God’s wealth. Pledge allegiance, a pledge that provides your imam with a binding claim upon you and gives you security at your resurrection. Do not meet God without an imam and thus be among those with no justification. Do not say: We fear the Commander of the Faithful too much to speak the truth. The people looked toward Abū Ḥanīfa. He said: If you want me to speak for myself and you, remain silent. They said: We want that. He said: Praise be to God who has brought justice to the Prophet’s kin—God bless him and grant him peace—put an end to the oppression of tyrants against us, and freed our tongues to speak truth. We have pledged allegiance to you according to the command of God, exalted is He, and fidelity to you according to your covenant, until the rising of the Hour. May God never deprive this authority of those related to His Prophet—God bless him and grant him peace. Abū al-ʿAbbās answered him graciously, and said: Someone like you should speak for the scholars. They chose you well, and you conveyed the message well. When they left, they asked him: What did you mean by ‘until the rising of the hour’? The hour has already elapsed! He said: If you contrive against me, I will contrive for myself and leave you to the ordeal. They remained silent and knew that what he had done was right. [The account plays on sāʿa, meaning both ‘hour’ and the final Hour.]

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the reciter informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad narrated to us: Al-Faḍl ibn Ghānim narrated to us: Abū Yūsuf was seriously ill, and Abū Ḥanīfa visited him repeatedly. On his last visit he saw that he was gravely ill, pronounced ‘We belong to God and to Him we return,’ and said: I had hoped you would serve the Muslims after me. If the people lose you, much knowledge will die with you. He then recovered and emerged from the illness. Abū Yūsuf was told what Abū Ḥanīfa had said about him. His self-esteem rose, and people’s attention turned toward him. He established a jurisprudence gathering of his own and reduced his attendance at Abū Ḥanīfa’s gathering. Abū Ḥanīfa asked about him and was told: He has established his own gathering, and your words about him reached him. He summoned a man he esteemed and said: Go to Yaʿqūb’s gathering and ask him: What do you say about a man who gave a cloth to a fuller to full for a dirham, then returned after some days to seek it? The fuller said: You have nothing with me, and denied it. Then the owner returned, and he handed him the cloth, fulled. Is he entitled to a wage? If he says he is, say: You are wrong. If he says he is not, say: You are wrong. The man went and asked him. Abū Yūsuf said: He is entitled to the wage. He said: You are wrong. Abū Yūsuf considered it a while, then said: He is not entitled to a wage. He said: You are wrong. Abū Yūsuf rose immediately and went to Abū Ḥanīfa, who said: Nothing brought you except the fuller’s question. He said: Yes. He said: Glory be to God! Someone sits issuing rulings to people and establishes a gathering to discuss God’s religion, yet his knowledge is such that he cannot answer a question concerning hire! He said: Abū Ḥanīfa, teach me. He said: If he fulled it after wrongfully appropriating it, he has no wage, because he fulled it for himself. If he fulled it before appropriating it, he is entitled to a wage, because he fulled it for its owner. Then he said: Whoever thinks he can dispense with learning should weep for himself.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the reciter informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad narrated to us: Al-Faḍl ibn Ghānim narrated to us: Abū Yūsuf was seriously ill, and Abū Ḥanīfa visited him repeatedly. On his last visit he saw that he was gravely ill, pronounced ‘We belong to God and to Him we return,’ and said: I had hoped you would serve the Muslims after me. If the people lose you, much knowledge will die with you. He then recovered and emerged from the illness. Abū Yūsuf was told what Abū Ḥanīfa had said about him. His self-esteem rose, and people’s attention turned toward him. He established a jurisprudence gathering of his own and reduced his attendance at Abū Ḥanīfa’s gathering. Abū Ḥanīfa asked about him and was told: He has established his own gathering, and your words about him reached him. He summoned a man he esteemed and said: Go to Yaʿqūb’s gathering and ask him: What do you say about a man who gave a cloth to a fuller to full for a dirham, then returned after some days to seek it? The fuller said: You have nothing with me, and denied it. Then the owner returned, and he handed him the cloth, fulled. Is he entitled to a wage? If he says he is, say: You are wrong. If he says he is not, say: You are wrong. The man went and asked him. Abū Yūsuf said: He is entitled to the wage. He said: You are wrong. Abū Yūsuf considered it a while, then said: He is not entitled to a wage. He said: You are wrong. Abū Yūsuf rose immediately and went to Abū Ḥanīfa, who said: Nothing brought you except the fuller’s question. He said: Yes. He said: Glory be to God! Someone sits issuing rulings to people and establishes a gathering to discuss God’s religion, yet his knowledge is such that he cannot answer a question concerning hire! He said: Abū Ḥanīfa, teach me. He said: If he fulled it after wrongfully appropriating it, he has no wage, because he fulled it for himself. If he fulled it before appropriating it, he is entitled to a wage, because he fulled it for its owner. Then he said: Whoever thinks he can dispense with learning should weep for himself.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥulwānī informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Yūnus narrated to us: I heard Wakīʿ say: I saw Abū Ḥanīfa, Sufyān, Misʿar, Mālik ibn Mighwal, Jaʿfar ibn Ziyād al-Aḥmar, and al-Ḥasan ibn Ṣāliḥ gathered at a wedding feast in Kufa that brought together nobles and clients. A man had married his two daughters to another man’s two sons. When everyone gathered, the guardian came out and said: A great misfortune has befallen us. They asked: What? He said: We would like to conceal it. Abū Ḥanīfa asked: What is it? He said: A mistake was made; each man was given the other’s wife. He asked: Did they have intercourse with them? He said: Yes. Sufyān said: There is no problem; the Commander of the Faithful ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib adjudicated this very case. Muʿāwiya sent to ask him about it. ʿAlī—may God be pleased with him—said to the questioner: Are you Muʿāwiya’s messenger? This has not happened in our country. I hold that each man owes compensation for the intercourse he had with the woman, each woman returns to her husband, and there is no further liability upon them. The people listened silently to Sufyān and approved his statement, while Abū Ḥanīfa sat silently among them. Misʿar turned to him and said: Speak about it, Abū Ḥanīfa. Sufyān said: What could he say other than this? Abū Ḥanīfa said: Bring me the two young men. They were brought, and he asked each: Would you like to keep the woman brought to you as bride? He said: Yes. He asked: What is the name of your wife who is with your brother? He said: So-and-so daughter of so-and-so. He said: Say: She is divorced from me. Then Abū Ḥanīfa delivered the marriage address and married each man to the woman with whom he had had intercourse. He said: Arrange another wedding feast for us! The people marveled at Abū Ḥanīfa’s ruling. That day Misʿar stood and kissed Abū Ḥanīfa’s mouth, saying: You blame me for loving him! Sufyān remained silent, saying nothing.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥulwānī informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Yūnus narrated to us: I heard Wakīʿ say: I saw Abū Ḥanīfa, Sufyān, Misʿar, Mālik ibn Mighwal, Jaʿfar ibn Ziyād al-Aḥmar, and al-Ḥasan ibn Ṣāliḥ gathered at a wedding feast in Kufa that brought together nobles and clients. A man had married his two daughters to another man’s two sons. When everyone gathered, the guardian came out and said: A great misfortune has befallen us. They asked: What? He said: We would like to conceal it. Abū Ḥanīfa asked: What is it? He said: A mistake was made; each man was given the other’s wife. He asked: Did they have intercourse with them? He said: Yes. Sufyān said: There is no problem; the Commander of the Faithful ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib adjudicated this very case. Muʿāwiya sent to ask him about it. ʿAlī—may God be pleased with him—said to the questioner: Are you Muʿāwiya’s messenger? This has not happened in our country. I hold that each man owes compensation for the intercourse he had with the woman, each woman returns to her husband, and there is no further liability upon them. The people listened silently to Sufyān and approved his statement, while Abū Ḥanīfa sat silently among them. Misʿar turned to him and said: Speak about it, Abū Ḥanīfa. Sufyān said: What could he say other than this? Abū Ḥanīfa said: Bring me the two young men. They were brought, and he asked each: Would you like to keep the woman brought to you as bride? He said: Yes. He asked: What is the name of your wife who is with your brother? He said: So-and-so daughter of so-and-so. He said: Say: She is divorced from me. Then Abū Ḥanīfa delivered the marriage address and married each man to the woman with whom he had had intercourse. He said: Arrange another wedding feast for us! The people marveled at Abū Ḥanīfa’s ruling. That day Misʿar stood and kissed Abū Ḥanīfa’s mouth, saying: You blame me for loving him! Sufyān remained silent, saying nothing.

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the reciter informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Ḍirār ibn Ṣurad narrated to us: Sharīk narrated to us: We were at a funeral, and with us were Sufyān al-Thawrī, Ibn Shubruma, Ibn Abī Laylā, Abū Ḥanīfa, Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, Mandal, and Ḥibbān. It was the funeral of the son of a distinguished elderly man of Banū Hāshim. Kufa’s prominent people walked in the procession. When the bier stopped, people asked why. They said: His mother came out distraught, threw her garment over him, emerged and uncovered her head. She was a noble Hāshimite woman. His father shouted to her to return, but she refused. He swore by divorce that she must return; she swore by the emancipation of every slave she owned that she would not return until the funeral prayer was offered for him. People went to one another, stopped and asked, but no one spoke on it or gave an answer. The father called to Abū Ḥanīfa: Nuʿmān, help us! Abū Ḥanīfa came and asked her: How did you swear? She repeated it. He asked the elderly man: How did you swear? He repeated it. He said: Set down the bier. They did. He said to the father: Come forward and pray over your son. He did, and the people prayed behind him. They called to those ahead until they rejoined the people. Then he said: Carry him to his grave; and you, return home, for you have fulfilled your oath. He told the father: Return; you have fulfilled your oath. Ibn Shubruma said that day: Women cannot bear anyone like you! How swiftly you act, without any difficulty in knowledge!

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the reciter informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Ḍirār ibn Ṣurad narrated to us: Sharīk narrated to us: We were at a funeral, and with us were Sufyān al-Thawrī, Ibn Shubruma, Ibn Abī Laylā, Abū Ḥanīfa, Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, Mandal, and Ḥibbān. It was the funeral of the son of a distinguished elderly man of Banū Hāshim. Kufa’s prominent people walked in the procession. When the bier stopped, people asked why. They said: His mother came out distraught, threw her garment over him, emerged and uncovered her head. She was a noble Hāshimite woman. His father shouted to her to return, but she refused. He swore by divorce that she must return; she swore by the emancipation of every slave she owned that she would not return until the funeral prayer was offered for him. People went to one another, stopped and asked, but no one spoke on it or gave an answer. The father called to Abū Ḥanīfa: Nuʿmān, help us! Abū Ḥanīfa came and asked her: How did you swear? She repeated it. He asked the elderly man: How did you swear? He repeated it. He said: Set down the bier. They did. He said to the father: Come forward and pray over your son. He did, and the people prayed behind him. They called to those ahead until they rejoined the people. Then he said: Carry him to his grave; and you, return home, for you have fulfilled your oath. He told the father: Return; you have fulfilled your oath. Ibn Shubruma said that day: Women cannot bear anyone like you! How swiftly you act, without any difficulty in knowledge!

Abū Ḥafṣ informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Al-Ḥimmānī narrated to us: I heard Ibn al-Mubārak say: A man asked Abū Ḥanīfa about a small opening he wanted to make in a wall of his house. He said: Open what you wish, but do not look in on your neighbor. His neighbor took him to Ibn Abī Laylā, who forbade it. He complained to Abū Ḥanīfa, who said: Then make a doorway in it. He came to make the doorway, and the neighbor took him to Ibn Abī Laylā, who forbade him. Abū Ḥanīfa asked: What is your wall worth? He said: Three dinars. He said: I owe you that; go and demolish the wall from end to end. When he came to demolish it, the neighbor stopped him and took him to Ibn Abī Laylā. He said: He is demolishing his own wall, and you ask me to stop him? Go, demolish it, and do what you wish. The man said: Then why did you trouble me and forbid me from making a little opening? That would have been easier for me. He said: If he goes to someone who points out my error, what can I do when the error becomes clear?

Abū Ḥafṣ informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Al-Ḥimmānī narrated to us: I heard Ibn al-Mubārak say: A man asked Abū Ḥanīfa about a small opening he wanted to make in a wall of his house. He said: Open what you wish, but do not look in on your neighbor. His neighbor took him to Ibn Abī Laylā, who forbade it. He complained to Abū Ḥanīfa, who said: Then make a doorway in it. He came to make the doorway, and the neighbor took him to Ibn Abī Laylā, who forbade him. He complained to Abū Ḥanīfa and told him what had happened. Abū Ḥanīfa asked: What is your wall worth? He said: Three dinars. He said: I owe you that; go and demolish the wall from end to end. When he came to demolish it, the neighbor stopped him and took him to Ibn Abī Laylā. He said: He is demolishing his own wall, and you ask me to stop him? Go, demolish it, and do what you wish. The man said: Then why did you trouble me and forbid me from making a little opening? That would have been easier for me. He said: If he goes to someone who points out my error, what can I do when the error becomes clear?

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad, the assessor of witnesses, informed us: The judge Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us. He said: Abū ʿUbayd narrated to us: Ibn al-Mubārak narrated to us: I asked Abū Ḥanīfa about one man’s dirham and another’s two dirhams, which became mixed, then two of the three were lost, with no knowledge of whose they were. Abū Ḥanīfa said: The remaining dirham is divided between them in thirds. I met Ibn Shubruma and asked him. He said: Have you asked anyone about it? I said: Yes, Abū Ḥanīfa. He said: He told you the remaining dirham is divided between them in thirds? I said: Yes. He said: The slave is wrong. We know for certain that one of the two lost dirhams belongs to the owner of the two; the other could belong to either. Thus the remaining dirham is divided equally between them. I greatly admired this. Then I met Abū Ḥanīfa—if his intellect in jurisprudence were weighed against half the earth’s people, it would outweigh theirs, God willing. He said: You met Ibn Shubruma, and he told you that we know one of the two lost dirhams belonged to the owner of the two, and the remaining dirham is divided equally? I said: Yes. He said: When the three became mixed, joint ownership arose between them. The owner of the single dirham thus owned one-third of each dirham, and the owner of the two owned two-thirds of each. Whichever dirham was lost, it was lost according to their respective shares.

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad, the assessor of witnesses, informed us: The judge Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us. He said: Abū ʿUbayd narrated to us: Ibn al-Mubārak narrated to us: I asked Abū Ḥanīfa about one man’s dirham and another’s two dirhams, which became mixed, then two of the three were lost, with no knowledge of whose they were. Abū Ḥanīfa said: The remaining dirham is divided between them in thirds. I met Ibn Shubruma and asked him. He said: Have you asked anyone about it? I said: Yes, Abū Ḥanīfa. He said: He told you the remaining dirham is divided between them in thirds? I said: Yes. He said: Abū Ḥanīfa is wrong. We know for certain that one of the two lost dirhams belongs to the owner of the two; the other could belong to either. Thus the remaining dirham is divided equally between them. I greatly admired this. Then I met Abū Ḥanīfa—if his intellect in jurisprudence were weighed against half the earth’s people, it would outweigh theirs, God willing. He said: You met Ibn Shubruma, and he told you that we know one of the two lost dirhams belonged to the owner of the two, and the remaining dirham is divided equally? I said: Yes. He said: When the three became mixed, joint ownership arose between them. The owner of the single dirham thus owned one-third of each dirham, and the owner of the two owned two-thirds of each. Whichever dirham was lost, it was lost according to their respective shares.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Al-Jumānī narrated to us: Ibn al-Mubārak narrated to us: I saw Abū Ḥanīfa on the road to Mecca. A fat young camel was roasted for them, and they wished to eat it with vinegar but found nothing to pour the vinegar into. They were perplexed. I saw Abū Ḥanīfa dig a hollow in the sand, spread the dining cloth over it, and pour vinegar into that spot. They ate the roast with vinegar and said: You know how to do everything! He said: Be thankful, for this is something I was inspired to do for you as a favor from God upon you.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Al-Ḥimmānī narrated to us: Ibn al-Mubārak narrated to us: I saw Abū Ḥanīfa on the road to Mecca. A fat young camel was roasted for them, and they wished to eat it with vinegar but found nothing to pour the vinegar into. They were perplexed. I saw Abū Ḥanīfa dig a hollow in the sand, spread the dining cloth over it, and pour vinegar into that spot. They ate the roast with vinegar and said: You know how to do everything! He said: Be thankful, for this is something I was inspired to do for you as a favor from God upon you.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Mūsā and Ibn Samāʿa narrated to us: Muḥammad narrated to us: Abū Ḥanīfa narrated to me from Ḥammād, who used to say: When asked a difficult question, turn it back into a question for your questioner until you extricate yourself from his question. Someone secretly sent a man who sat waiting for me at the gate while I was with Ibn Hubayra, who had ordered me imprisoned. The man hurried to the prison and said: Abū Ḥanīfa, if the supreme ruler orders a man to kill someone, is he permitted to kill him? I asked him: Is that man someone who deserves execution? He said: Yes. I said: Then execute him. He said: What if he does not deserve execution? I said: The supreme ruler does not order the killing of someone who does not deserve execution.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Mūsā and Ibn Samāʿa narrated to us: Muḥammad narrated to us: Abū Ḥanīfa narrated to me from Ḥammād, who used to say: When asked a difficult question, turn it back into a question for your questioner until you extricate yourself from his question. Someone secretly sent a man who sat waiting for me at the gate while I was with Ibn Hubayra, who had ordered me imprisoned. The man hurried to the prison and said: Abū Ḥanīfa, if the supreme ruler orders a man to kill someone, is he permitted to kill him? I asked him: Is that man someone who deserves execution? He said: Yes. I said: Then execute him. He said: What if he does not deserve execution? I said: The supreme ruler does not order the killing of someone who does not deserve execution.

ʿUmar informed us: Makram narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Baghawī narrated to me: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Harawī narrated to us: Abū ʿAbd Allāh Aḥmad ibn Muʾammal narrated to us: Bishr ibn al-Walīd informed us: A young neighbor of Abū Ḥanīfa frequently attended his gathering. One day he said: I want to marry into such-and-such a family in Kufa. I have proposed to them, but they demand a dower beyond my means and ability, and I am attached to the marriage. Abū Ḥanīfa said: Seek God’s guidance and give them what they ask. Perhaps when you consummate the marriage your wife will waive the outstanding dower. He agreed to their demand. When they contracted the marriage, he came to Abū Ḥanīfa and said: I asked them to take part of it, because I cannot afford all of it, but they refuse to bring her to me until the entire dower is paid. What do you advise? He said: Find a way and borrow until you consummate the marriage. Matters will be easier for you than under these people’s severity. He did so, and Abū Ḥanīfa was among those who lent him money. When the marriage was consummated and she was brought to him, Abū Ḥanīfa said: Why not make it appear that you wish to leave this town for a distant place and travel with your wife? The man hired two camels and brought them, announcing that he would go to Khurasan to seek a livelihood and take his wife. This distressed her family greatly. They came to Abū Ḥanīfa to complain and seek his ruling. He said: Satisfy him by returning what you took from him. They agreed. Abū Ḥanīfa told the young man: They have agreed to return the dower they took from you and release you from it. The young man said: I want something further from them. Abū Ḥanīfa said: Which would you prefer? Accept what they have offered; otherwise, the woman may acknowledge a debt to a man, and then you cannot take her away or travel with her until you pay her debt. The man said: For God’s sake, let them not hear this, or I will receive nothing from them! He agreed to stay and took the dower they offered to return.

ʿUmar informed us: Makram narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Baghawī narrated to me: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Harawī narrated to us: Abū ʿAbd Allāh Aḥmad ibn Muʾammal narrated to us: Bishr ibn al-Walīd informed us: A young neighbor of Abū Ḥanīfa frequently attended his gathering. One day he said: I want to marry into such-and-such a family in Kufa. I have proposed to them, but they demand a dower beyond my means and ability, and I am attached to the marriage. Abū Ḥanīfa said: Seek God’s guidance and give them what they ask. Perhaps when you consummate the marriage your wife will waive the outstanding dower. He agreed to their demand. When they contracted the marriage, he came to Abū Ḥanīfa and said: I asked them to take part of it, because I cannot afford all of it, but they refuse to bring her to me until the entire dower is paid. What do you advise? He said: Find a way and borrow until you consummate the marriage. Matters will be easier for you than under these people’s severity. He did so, and Abū Ḥanīfa was among those who lent him money. When the marriage was consummated and she was brought to him, Abū Ḥanīfa said: Why not make it appear that you wish to leave this town for a distant place and travel with your wife? The man hired two camels and brought them, announcing that he would go to Khurasan to seek a livelihood and take his wife. This distressed her family greatly. They came to Abū Ḥanīfa to complain and seek his ruling. Abū Ḥanīfa told them: He may take her wherever he wishes. They said: We cannot let her leave. Abū Ḥanīfa told them: Satisfy him by returning what you took from him. They agreed. Abū Ḥanīfa told the young man: They have agreed to return the dower they took from you and release you from it. The young man said: I want something further from them. Abū Ḥanīfa said: Which would you prefer? Accept what they have offered; otherwise, the woman may acknowledge a debt to a man, and then you cannot take her away or travel with her until you pay her debt. The man said: For God’s sake, let them not hear this, or I will receive nothing from them! He agreed to stay and took the dower they offered to return.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Bazzāz informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Mulayḥ and Sufyān, Wakīʿ’s sons, narrated to us from Wakīʿ, who said: We were with Abū Ḥanīfa when a woman came and said: My brother died leaving six hundred dinars, and they gave me only one dinar. He asked: Who divided your inheritance? She said: Dāwūd al-Ṭāʾī. He said: That is your entitlement. Did your brother leave two daughters? She said: Yes. And a mother? Yes. And a wife? Yes. And twelve brothers and one sister? Yes. He said: The daughters have two-thirds, four hundred; the mother has one-sixth, one hundred; the wife has seventy-five. Twenty-five remain for the siblings: twenty-four, two dinars for each brother, and one dinar for you.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Bazzāz informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Mulayḥ and Sufyān, Wakīʿ’s sons, narrated to us from Wakīʿ, who said: We were with Abū Ḥanīfa when a woman came and said: My brother died leaving six hundred dinars, and they gave me only one dinar. He asked: Who divided your inheritance? She said: Dāwūd al-Ṭāʾī. He said: That is your entitlement. Did your brother leave two daughters? She said: Yes. And a mother? Yes. And a wife? Yes. And twelve brothers and one sister? Yes. He said: The daughters have two-thirds, four hundred; the mother has one-sixth, one hundred; the wife has seventy-five. Twenty-five remain for the siblings: twenty-four, two dinars for each brother, and one dinar for you.

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the reciter informed us: Abū Bakr Makram ibn Aḥmad the judge narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated to us: Abū ʿAbd Allāh Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Harawī narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Shujāʿ narrated to us: Al-Ḥasan ibn Abī Mālik informed us: Abū Ḥanīfa visited Ibn Abī Laylā with Abū Yūsuf to discharge his social obligation toward him. When Abū Ḥanīfa sat with him, Ibn Abī Laylā told his doorkeeper: Admit the litigants present. It was as if he wanted to show Abū Ḥanīfa his effectiveness in judgment and adjudication. Litigants entered and a group came before him; he judged between them. Then two men came forward. One said: May God honor you, this man accused my mother of fornication and insulted me, saying: Son of a fornicatress! I ask the judge to obtain my right. Ibn Abī Laylā asked the defendant: What do you say? Abū Ḥanīfa—may God be pleased with him—said: Why ask him about this claim? This man has no standing against him: he says the accusation of fornication concerns his mother. Has his authorization to act for his mother been established before you? He said: No. He said: Turn to the claimant and ask whether his mother is alive or dead. If alive, he has no basis for his claim except authorization from her to pursue her right. If dead, the matter is different. Ibn Abī Laylā turned to the claimant and asked: Is your mother alive or dead? He said: Dead. He said: Produce evidence of her death before me so I may know. He produced evidence. Ibn Abī Laylā then went to ask the defendant about the allegation, but Abū Ḥanīfa said: Turn to the claimant and ask whether his mother has another heir. If he has siblings, the right to claim belongs to him and them. If he alone is the heir, the matter is different. Ibn Abī Laylā asked: Does your mother have another heir? He said: No. He said: Produce evidence. He produced evidence that he alone was her heir. Ibn Abī Laylā went to ask the defendant about the claim, but Abū Ḥanīfa—may God be pleased with him—said: Turn to the claimant and ask whether his mother was free or enslaved. Ibn Abī Laylā asked him, and he said: Free. He required evidence, which he produced. He went to ask the defendant, but Abū Ḥanīfa said: Return again to the claimant and ask whether she was Muslim or a woman protected by treaty. He said: A free Muslim woman from such-and-such a family, prominent people in Kufa. He said: Produce evidence that she was Muslim. He did so. Abū Ḥanīfa said: Now proceed, and ask the man about the claimant’s allegation. He asked, and the man denied it. He asked the claimant: Have you evidence? He said: Yes, a group of Kufa’s leading men. He said: Bring them with your opponent so I can hear their testimony against him. He brought them, and Abū Ḥanīfa rose. Ibn Abī Laylā said: Will you sit until the evidence arrives? He said: No, and left at once.

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the reciter informed us: Abū Bakr Makram ibn Aḥmad the judge narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated to us: Abū ʿAbd Allāh Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Harawī narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Shujāʿ narrated to us: Al-Ḥasan ibn Abī Mālik informed us: Abū Ḥanīfa visited Ibn Abī Laylā with Abū Yūsuf to discharge his social obligation toward him. When Abū Ḥanīfa sat with him, Ibn Abī Laylā told his doorkeeper: Admit the litigants present. It was as if he wanted to show Abū Ḥanīfa his effectiveness in judgment and adjudication. Litigants entered and a group came before him; he judged between them. Then two men came forward. One said: May God honor you, this man accused my mother of fornication and insulted me, saying: Son of a fornicatress! I ask the judge to obtain my right. Ibn Abī Laylā asked the defendant: What do you say? Abū Ḥanīfa said: Why ask him about this claim? This man has no standing against him: he says the accusation of fornication concerns his mother. Has his authorization to act for his mother been established before you? He said: No. He said: Turn to the claimant and ask whether his mother is alive or dead. If alive, he has no basis for his claim except authorization from her to pursue her right. If dead, the matter is different. Ibn Abī Laylā turned to the claimant and asked: Is your mother alive or dead? He said: Dead. He said: Produce evidence of her death before me so I may know. He produced evidence. Ibn Abī Laylā then went to ask the defendant about the allegation, but Abū Ḥanīfa said: Turn to the claimant and ask whether his mother has another heir. If he has siblings, the right to claim belongs to him and them. If he alone is the heir, the matter is different. Ibn Abī Laylā asked: Does your mother have another heir? He said: No. He said: Produce evidence. He produced evidence that he alone was her heir. Ibn Abī Laylā went to ask the defendant about the claim, but Abū Ḥanīfa said: Turn to the claimant and ask whether his mother was free or enslaved. Ibn Abī Laylā asked him, and he said: Free. He required evidence, which he produced. He went to ask the defendant, but Abū Ḥanīfa said: Return again to the claimant and ask whether she was Muslim or a woman protected by treaty. He said: A free Muslim woman from such-and-such a family, prominent people in Kufa. He said: Produce evidence that she was Muslim. He did so. Abū Ḥanīfa said: Now proceed, and ask the man about the claimant’s allegation. He asked, and the man denied it. He asked the claimant: Have you evidence? He said: Yes, a group of Kufa’s leading men. He said: Bring them with your opponent so I can hear their testimony against him. Abū Ḥanīfa rose. Ibn Abī Laylā said: Will you sit until the evidence arrives? He said: No, and left at once.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Bazzāz informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Al-ʿAbbās ibn Bakkār narrated to us: Asad ibn ʿAmr narrated to us: Qatāda entered Kufa and stayed at Abū Burda’s house. He came out and said: No one will ask me a question about lawful and unlawful matters without my answering it. Abū Ḥanīfa said: Abū al-Khaṭṭāb, what do you say about a man absent from his family for years, whose death was reported to his wife? Thinking him dead, she married. Then her first husband returned, and she had borne a child. The first denied the child was his, and the second claimed it. Have both accused her of fornication, or only the one who denied the child? What is the answer? concerning it. Abū Ḥanīfa said: If he gives an opinion on it, he will err; if he says ‘someone narrated to us’ about it, he will lie. Qatāda asked: Has this case occurred? They said: No. He said: Why ask me about something that has not happened? Abū Ḥanīfa said: Scholars prepare for affliction and guard against it before it descends, so when it comes they recognize it and know how to enter it and emerge from it. Qatāda said: Leave this and ask me about Qurʾānic interpretation. Abū Ḥanīfa asked: What do we say about God’s words, ‘The one who possessed knowledge of the Book said: I will bring it to you before your glance returns to you’? He said: Yes, this was Āṣaf ibn Barkhiyā, Solomon’s scribe; he knew God’s greatest name. He asked: Did Solomon—peace be upon him—know this name? He said: No. He asked: Can there be someone in a prophet’s time more knowledgeable than the prophet? He said: No. By God, I will tell you nothing about interpretation; ask me about matters on which scholars disagree. Abū Ḥanīfa asked: Are you a believer? He said: I hope so. He asked: Why? He said: Because of the Exalted’s words, ‘And the One whom I hope will forgive my fault on the Day of Judgment.’ Abū Ḥanīfa said: Why not say what Abraham—peace be upon him—said when asked, ‘Do you not believe?’ He replied: ‘Yes, but so that my heart may be reassured.’ Qatāda rose, entered the house angrily, and swore not to narrate to them. Abū Ḥanīfa said: Years later he came to Kufa, blind. I called: Abū al-Khaṭṭāb, what do you say about ‘Let a group of believers witness their punishment’? He said: One man or more, Abū Ḥanīfa. He recognized my voice and had heard people address me by my kunyah.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Bazzāz informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Al-ʿAbbās ibn Bakkār narrated to us: Asad ibn ʿAmr narrated to us: Qatāda entered Kufa and stayed at Abū Burda’s house. He came out and said: No one will ask me a question about lawful and unlawful matters without my answering it. Abū Ḥanīfa said: Abū al-Khaṭṭāb, what do you say about a man absent from his family for years, whose death was reported to his wife? Thinking him dead, she married. Then her first husband returned, and she had borne a child. The first denied the child was his, and the second claimed it. Have both accused her of fornication, or only the one who denied the child? What is the answer? concerning it. Abū Ḥanīfa said: If he gives an opinion on it, he will err; if he says ‘someone narrated to us’ about it, he will lie. Qatāda asked: Has this case occurred? They said: No. He said: Why ask me about something that has not happened? Abū Ḥanīfa said: Scholars prepare for affliction and guard against it before it descends, so when it comes they recognize it and know how to enter it and emerge from it. Qatāda said: Leave this and ask me about Qurʾānic interpretation. Abū Ḥanīfa asked: What do we say about God’s words, ‘The one who possessed knowledge of the Book said: I will bring it to you before your glance returns to you’? He said: Yes, this was Āṣaf ibn Barkhiyā, Solomon’s scribe; he knew God’s greatest name. He asked: Did Solomon—peace be upon him—know this name? He said: No. He asked: Can there be someone in a prophet’s time more knowledgeable than the prophet? He said: No. By God, I will tell you nothing about interpretation; ask me about matters on which scholars disagree. Abū Ḥanīfa asked: Are you a believer? He said: I hope so. He asked: Why? He said: Because of the Exalted’s words, ‘And the One whom I hope will forgive my fault on the Day of Judgment.’ Abū Ḥanīfa said: Why not say what Abraham—peace be upon him—said when asked, ‘Do you not believe?’ He replied: ‘Yes, but so that my heart may be reassured.’ Qatāda rose, entered the house angrily, and swore not to narrate to them. Abū Ḥanīfa said: Years later he came to Kufa, blind. I called: Abū al-Khaṭṭāb, what do you say about ‘Let a group of believers witness their punishment’? He said: One man or more, Abū Ḥanīfa. He recognized my voice and had heard people address me by my kunyah.

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad the witness informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Al-Tarjumānī narrated to us: Ḥassān ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us, from Ibrāhīm al-Ṣāʾigh, who said: I was with ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ, and Abū Ḥanīfa was with him. He was asked about God’s words, ‘We gave him his family and their like with them.’ ʿAṭāʾ said: God restored to Job—peace be upon him—his family, and the like of his family and children. Then Abū Ḥanīfa said: Abū Muḥammad, would God restore to a prophet children who were not his own offspring? He said: What have you heard concerning this—may God grant you well-being? He said: God restored Job’s family and children of his own body, together with the equivalent of the rewards for his children. He said: That is good.

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad the witness informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Al-Tarjumānī narrated to us: Ḥassān ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us, from Ibrāhīm al-Ṣāʾigh, who said: I was with ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ, and Abū Ḥanīfa was with him. He was asked about God’s words, ‘We gave him his family and their like with them.’ ʿAṭāʾ said: God restored to Job—peace be upon him—his family, and the like of his family and children. Then Abū Ḥanīfa said: Abū Muḥammad, would God restore to a prophet children who were not his own offspring? He said: What have you heard concerning this—may God grant you well-being? He said: God restored Job’s family and children of his own body, together with the equivalent of the rewards for his children. He said: That is good.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Ibn Samāʿa narrated to us: Abū Yūsuf narrated to us: A man said to Abū Ḥanīfa: I swore not to speak to my wife unless she spoke to me, and she swore to give all she owned in charity if she spoke to me unless I spoke to her. He asked: Have you asked anyone about this? He said: Yes, Sufyān al-Thawrī. He said that whichever spoke to the other would break the oath. He said: Speak to her; neither of you will break the oath. The man went to Sufyān, who was his relative, and told him. Sufyān came to me angrily and said: You make sexual relations lawful! He asked: What is that about? Then he said: Repeat the question to Abū ʿAbd Allāh. They repeated it, and Abū Ḥanīfa repeated his ruling. He asked: On what basis do you say that? He said: When she addressed her oath to him after he had sworn, she had spoken to him, and his oath ceased to apply. If he speaks to her, neither breaks an oath, because she spoke to him after his oath and the oath ceased to apply to them both. Sufyān said: He uncovers for you a point of knowledge of which we are all unaware.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Ibn Samāʿa narrated to us: Abū Yūsuf narrated to us: A man said to Abū Ḥanīfa: I swore not to speak to my wife unless she spoke to me, and she swore to give all she owned in charity if she spoke to me unless I spoke to her. He asked: Have you asked anyone about this? He said: Yes, Sufyān al-Thawrī. He said that whichever spoke to the other would break the oath. He said: Speak to her; neither of you will break the oath. The man went to Sufyān, who was his relative, and told him. Sufyān came to me angrily and said: You make sexual relations lawful! He asked: What is that about? Then he said: Repeat the question to Abū ʿAbd Allāh. They repeated it, and Abū Ḥanīfa repeated his ruling. He asked: On what basis do you say that? He said: When she addressed her oath to him after he had sworn, she had spoken to him, and his oath ceased to apply. If he speaks to her, he does not break his oath, because he spoke after she had spoken; nor does she, because she spoke after he had spoken. Thus the oath ceased to apply to them both. Sufyān said: He uncovers for you a point of knowledge of which we are all unaware.

I found in Abū Jaʿfar al-Ṭaḥāwī’s book, in which he collected reports about our companions—the book that the judge ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Asadī transmitted to us by authorization—that Abū Bakr al-Dāmghānī, the jurist, had informed them. He said: Abū Jaʿfar narrated to us: I heard the judge Abū Khāzim say: Suwayd ibn Saʿd al-Ḥadathānī narrated to us, from ʿAlī ibn Mushir, who said: We were with Abū Ḥanīfa when ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak came to him and said: ‘What do you say about a man who was cooking a pot of food, into which a bird fell and died?’ Abū Ḥanīfa asked his companions: ‘What is your view?’ They transmitted to him from Ibn ʿAbbās, may God be pleased with them both, that the broth should be poured away, the meat washed, and then eaten. Abū Ḥanīfa said: ‘That is also our position, but with a condition: if it fell in while the pot was boiling, the meat must be discarded and the broth poured away. If it fell into it while it was still, the meat should be washed and the broth poured away.’ Ibn al-Mubārak asked him: ‘On what basis do you say this?’ He replied: ‘If it falls in while the pot is boiling, it penetrates the meat as far as vinegar and seasonings penetrate it. If it falls in while the pot is still, it only soils the meat without penetrating it.’ Ibn al-Mubārak said: ‘This is razīn’—meaning gold, in Persian—and made the finger gesture for thirty.

I found in Abū Jaʿfar al-Ṭaḥāwī’s book, in which he collected reports about our companions—the book that the judge ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Asadī transmitted to us by authorization—that Abū Bakr al-Dāmghānī, the jurist, had informed them. He said: Abū Jaʿfar narrated to us: I heard the judge Abū Khāzim say: Suwayd ibn Saʿd al-Ḥadathānī narrated to us, from ʿAlī ibn Mushir, who said: We were with Abū Ḥanīfa when ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak came to him and said: ‘What do you say about a man who was cooking a pot of food, into which a bird fell and died?’ Abū Ḥanīfa asked his companions: ‘What is your view?’ They transmitted to him from Ibn ʿAbbās, may God be pleased with them both, that the broth should be poured away, the meat washed, and then eaten. Abū Ḥanīfa said: ‘That is also our position, but with a condition: if it fell in while the pot was boiling, the meat must be discarded and the broth poured away. If it fell into it while it was still, the meat should be washed and the broth poured away.’ Ibn al-Mubārak asked him: ‘On what basis do you say this?’ He replied: ‘If it falls in while the pot is boiling, it penetrates the meat as far as vinegar and seasonings penetrate it. If it falls in while the pot is still, it only soils the meat without penetrating it.’ Ibn al-Mubārak said: ‘This is razīn’—meaning gold, in Persian—and made the finger gesture for thirty.

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the reciter informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Yūnus narrated to us: Zāʾida narrated to us: A man asked Abū Ḥanīfa: What do you say about a man who says: I do not hope for Paradise or fear the Fire; I eat carrion; I testify to what I have not seen; I do not fear God; I pray without bowing or prostrating; I hate truth and love temptation? Abū Ḥanīfa knew the man hated him intensely, and said: Abū so-and-so, you ask me this knowing its meaning? He said: No; I found nothing more outrageous, so asked you about it. Abū Ḥanīfa asked his companions: What do you say about this man? They said: An evil, suspect man; this is an unbeliever’s description. Abū Ḥanīfa smiled and said: By God, he is truly one of God’s friends. Then he asked the man: If I explain that he is one of God’s friends, will you stop harming me with your tongue and dictating to the recording angels concerning me what will harm you? He said: Yes. Abū Ḥanīfa said: As for not hoping for Paradise or fearing the Fire, he hopes in the Lord of Paradise and fears the Lord of the Fire. As for not fearing God, he does not fear His injustice or oppression, for God says, ‘Your Lord is not unjust to His servants.’ Eating carrion means eating fish. Praying without bowing or prostrating means making most of his practice invoking blessings upon the Prophet—peace be upon him—and attending funerals to offer funeral prayers. Testifying to what he has not seen is the true testimony that there is no god but God and Muḥammad is His servant and messenger. Hating truth means he loves to remain alive to obey God continually and hates death, which is truth, as the Exalted says, ‘The agony of death comes with truth.’ As for temptation, hearts are naturally disposed to love wealth and children, which are a great trial for believers’ hearts.

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the reciter informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Yūnus narrated to us: Zāʾida narrated to us: A man asked Abū Ḥanīfa: What do you say about a man who says: I do not hope for Paradise or fear the Fire; I eat carrion; I testify to what I have not seen; I do not fear God; I pray without bowing or prostrating; I hate truth and love temptation? Abū Ḥanīfa knew the man hated him intensely, and said: Abū so-and-so, you ask me this knowing its meaning? He said: No; I found nothing more outrageous, so asked you about it. Abū Ḥanīfa asked his companions: What do you say about this man? They said: An evil, suspect man; this is an unbeliever’s description. Abū Ḥanīfa smiled and said: By God, he is truly one of God’s friends. Then he asked the man: If I explain that he is one of God’s friends, will you stop harming me with your tongue and dictating to the recording angels concerning me what will harm you? He said: Yes. Abū Ḥanīfa said: As for not hoping for Paradise or fearing the Fire, he hopes in the Lord of Paradise and fears the Lord of the Fire. As for not fearing God, he does not fear His injustice or oppression, for God says, ‘Your Lord is not unjust to His servants.’ Eating carrion means eating fish. Praying without bowing or prostrating means making most of his practice invoking blessings upon the Prophet—blessings and peace be upon him—and attending funerals to offer funeral prayers. Testifying to what he has not seen is the true testimony that there is no god but God and Muḥammad is His servant and messenger. Hating truth means he loves to remain alive to obey God continually and hates death, which is truth, as the Exalted says, ‘The agony of death comes with truth.’ Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq—may God be pleased with him—used to read it: “The agony of truth comes with death.” As for temptation, hearts are naturally disposed to love wealth and children, which are a great trial for believers’ hearts.

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Bishr ibn al-Walīd narrated to us: Abū Yūsuf narrated to us: A man said to Abū Ḥanīfa: I buried something and do not know where in the house I buried it. He said: I am still less likely to know! The man wept. Abū Ḥanīfa said: Let us go. He rose with several companions, and the man brought them home. He asked: Where in the house might it be, and where are your belongings kept? He took them into a room. Abū Ḥanīfa asked his companions: If this room were yours and you had something to bury, what would you do? One said: I would bury it here, another named a different place, until they proposed five places. He dug in two of them and found it in the third. He said: Thank God who restored it to you.

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Bishr ibn al-Walīd narrated to us: Abū Yūsuf narrated to us: A man said to Abū Ḥanīfa: I buried something and do not know where in the house I buried it. He said: I am still less likely to know! The man wept. Abū Ḥanīfa said: Let us go. He rose with several companions, and the man brought them home. He asked: Where in the house might it be, and where are your belongings kept? He took them into a room. Abū Ḥanīfa asked his companions: If this room were yours and you had something to bury, what would you do? One said: I would bury it here, another named a different place, until they proposed five places. He dug in two of them and found it in the third. He said: Thank God who restored it to you.

Abū ʿAbd Allāh Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr al-Ḥarīrī narrated to us: Abū al-Qāsim ibn Kaʾs al-Nakhaʿī narrated to us: Asbāṭ ibn Muḥammad narrated to us: Nimr ibn Jidār narrated to us, from al-Ḥasan ibn Ziyād, who said: A man buried his money somewhere, then forgot where. He searched without finding it and came to complain to Abū Ḥanīfa. He said: This is not jurisprudence so that I can devise a solution for you. But go and pray tonight until morning; you will remember where you buried it. He did so, and had stood less than a quarter of the night when he remembered. He came and told Abū Ḥanīfa, who said: I knew Satan would not let you pray all night without reminding you. Woe to you—why did you not complete your night in gratitude to God Most High?

Abū ʿAbd Allāh Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr al-Ḥarīrī narrated to us: Abū al-Qāsim ibn Kaʾs al-Nakhaʿī narrated to us: Asbāṭ ibn Muḥammad narrated to us: Nimr ibn Jidār narrated to us, from al-Ḥasan ibn Ziyād, who said: A man buried his money somewhere, then forgot where. He searched without finding it and came to complain to Abū Ḥanīfa. He said: This is not jurisprudence so that I can devise a solution for you. But go and pray tonight until morning; you will remember where you buried it. He did so, and had stood less than a quarter of the night when he remembered. He came and told Abū Ḥanīfa, who said: I knew Satan would not let you pray all night without reminding you. Woe to you—why did you not complete your night in gratitude to God Most High?

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad informed us: Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Miskī narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī narrated to us: Ibrāhīm ibn Makhlad narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Sahl narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Abī ʿAlī narrated to me: I was with al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī, judge of Marw. He mentioned Abū Ḥanīfa and his ingenuity, saying: A pilgrim entrusted a deposit to a man in Kufa and went on pilgrimage. When he returned and demanded it, the depositary denied the deposit and kept swearing to him. The man went to consult Abū Ḥanīfa, who said: Tell no one about his denial. The depositary attended Abū Ḥanīfa’s gatherings. Abū Ḥanīfa spoke to him privately: These people have sent to consult me about a man suitable for judgeship. Are you willing? The man demurred a little. Abū Ḥanīfa encouraged him while he demurred. The owner of the deposit then came, and Abū Ḥanīfa said: Go and tell him: I think you have forgotten; I entrusted it to you at such-and-such a time, with such-and-such an identifying mark. The man said that, and the depositary handed him the deposit. When the depositary returned, Abū Ḥanīfa said: I have considered your case and thought to raise your standing and not nominate you until something more important than this becomes available.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad informed us: Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Miskī narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī narrated to us: Ibrāhīm ibn Makhlad narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Sahl narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Abī ʿAlī narrated to me: I was with al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī, judge of Marw. He mentioned Abū Ḥanīfa and his ingenuity, saying: A pilgrim entrusted a deposit to a man in Kufa and went on pilgrimage. When he returned and demanded it, the depositary denied the deposit and kept swearing to him. The man went to consult Abū Ḥanīfa, who said: Tell no one about his denial. The depositary attended Abū Ḥanīfa’s gatherings. Abū Ḥanīfa spoke to him privately: These people have sent to consult me about a man suitable for judgeship. Are you willing? The man demurred a little. Abū Ḥanīfa encouraged him while he demurred. The owner of the deposit then came, and Abū Ḥanīfa said: Go and tell him: I think you have forgotten; I entrusted it to you at such-and-such a time, with such-and-such an identifying mark. The man said that, and the depositary handed him the deposit. When the depositary returned, Abū Ḥanīfa said: I have considered your case and thought to raise your standing and not nominate you until something more important than this becomes available.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad the money-changer informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr narrated to us: The judge ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā narrated to us: Abū Sulaymān narrated to us, from Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan, who said: Thieves entered a man’s home, took his possessions, and made him swear by triple divorce not to tell anyone. In the morning he saw the thieves selling his possessions but could not speak because of his oath. He consulted Abū Ḥanīfa, who said: Bring me your neighborhood’s imam, muezzin, and respectable men. He brought them. Abū Ḥanīfa asked: Would you like God to restore this man’s possessions? They said: Yes. He said: Gather every troublemaker and suspect, put them in a house or mosque, then bring them out one by one and ask him: Is this your thief? If not, he should say no; if it is, he should remain silent. When he remains silent, proceed against that man. They followed Abū Ḥanīfa’s instructions, and God restored everything stolen from him.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad the money-changer informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr narrated to us: The judge ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā narrated to us: Abū Sulaymān narrated to us, from Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan, who said: Thieves entered a man’s home, took his possessions, and made him swear by triple divorce not to tell anyone. In the morning he saw the thieves selling his possessions but could not speak because of his oath. He consulted Abū Ḥanīfa, who said: Bring me your neighborhood’s imam, muezzin, and respectable men. He brought them. Abū Ḥanīfa asked: Would you like God to restore this man’s possessions? They said: Yes. He said: Gather every troublemaker and suspect, put them in a house or mosque, then bring them out one by one and ask him: Is this your thief? If not, he should say no; if it is, he should remain silent. When he remains silent, proceed against that man. They followed Abū Ḥanīfa’s instructions, and God restored everything stolen from him.

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Salām narrated to us, from Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad al-Dhirāʿ, who said: Yūsuf ibn Khālid narrated to us: I heard Abū Ḥanīfa say: Rabīʿa al-Raʾy came to us, and Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd was Kufa’s judge. Yaḥyā said to Rabīʿa: Do you not marvel at this city’s people? They have agreed upon one man’s opinion. Abū Ḥanīfa said: This reached me, so I sent Yaʿqūb, Zufar, and several companions to him, saying: Reason by analogy with him and debate him. Yaʿqūb asked him: What do you say about a slave owned by two people, whom one emancipates? He said: His emancipation is invalid. Why? Because this causes harm. and it is reported from the Prophet—God bless him and grant him peace—‘There must be neither harm nor reciprocating harm.’ He asked: If the other owner emancipates him? He said: His emancipation is valid. He said: You have abandoned your position. If the first declaration accomplished nothing and no emancipation resulted from it, the second emancipated him while he was still a slave. He fell silent.

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Salām narrated to us, from Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad al-Dhirāʿ, who said: Yūsuf ibn Khālid narrated to us: I heard Abū Ḥanīfa say: Rabīʿa al-Raʾy came to us, and Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd was Kufa’s judge. Yaḥyā said to Rabīʿa: Do you not marvel at this city’s people? They have agreed upon one man’s opinion. Abū Ḥanīfa said: This reached me, so I sent Yaʿqūb, Zufar, and several companions to him, saying: Reason by analogy with him and debate him. Yaʿqūb asked him: What do you say about a slave owned by two people, whom one emancipates? He said: His emancipation is invalid. Why? Because this causes harm. and it is reported from the Prophet—God bless him and grant him peace—‘There must be neither harm nor reciprocating harm.’ He asked: If the other owner emancipates him? He said: His emancipation is valid. He said: You have abandoned your position. If the first declaration accomplished nothing and no emancipation resulted from it, the second emancipated him while he was still a slave. He fell silent.

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the reciter informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Bishr ibn al-Walīd narrated to us, from Abū Yūsuf, who said: No one I have accompanied could say that he had seen anyone of more complete intellect or more perfect honorable conduct than Abū Ḥanīfa.

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the reciter informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Bishr ibn al-Walīd narrated to us, from Abū Yūsuf, who said: No one I have accompanied could say that he had seen anyone of more complete intellect or more perfect honorable conduct than Abū Ḥanīfa—may God have mercy on him.

ʿUmar informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya al-Kūfī narrated to us: I heard Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn say: Abū Ḥanīfa was too intelligent to lie. I never heard anyone describe and mention him with such praise as Ibn al-Mubārak did.

ʿUmar informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya al-Kūfī narrated to us: I heard Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn say: Abū Ḥanīfa was too intelligent to lie. I never heard anyone describe and mention him with such praise as Ibn al-Mubārak did.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Bazzāz informed us: Makram narrated to us: Ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Tawba narrated to us: Ḥammūya ibn Ḥātim narrated to me: I heard Tawba say: Abū Ḥanīfa told me: Do not ask me about religion while I am walking, speaking to people, standing, or reclining. In these situations a man cannot fully concentrate his mind. One day he went out on an errand and I followed him. In my eagerness, I kept questioning him as he walked along the road, carrying a notebook. Whenever I had a moment alone, I wrote down what he said. The next day, when his companions gathered, I asked those questions and he changed the answers. I told him, and he said: Did I not forbid you to ask questions and seek testimony concerning God’s religion except when minds are fully concentrated?

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Bazzāz informed us: Makram narrated to us: Ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Tawba narrated to us: Ḥammūya ibn Ḥātim narrated to me: I heard Tawba say: Abū Ḥanīfa told me: Do not ask me about religion while I am walking, speaking to people, standing, or reclining. In these situations a man cannot fully concentrate his mind. One day he went out on an errand and I followed him. In my eagerness, I kept questioning him as he walked along the road, carrying a notebook. Whenever I had a moment alone, I wrote down what he said. The next day, when his companions gathered, I asked those questions and he changed the answers. I told him, and he said: Did I not forbid you to ask questions and seek testimony concerning God’s religion except when minds are fully concentrated?

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr al-Ḥarīrī narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad the judge narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAffān narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Malik al-Daqīqī narrated to us: I heard Yazīd ibn Hārūn say: I encountered people, but saw no one more intelligent or more excellent or more scrupulous than Abū Ḥanīfa.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr al-Ḥarīrī narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad the judge narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAffān narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Malik al-Daqīqī narrated to us: I heard Yazīd ibn Hārūn say: I encountered people, but saw no one more intelligent or more excellent or more scrupulous than Abū Ḥanīfa.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad the judge narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd al-Ṣaydalānī narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Shujāʿ narrated to us: I heard ʿAlī ibn ʿĀṣim say: If Abū Ḥanīfa’s intellect were weighed against half the intellect of the earth’s people, it would outweigh theirs. No one was greater in his estimation than Abū Ḥanīfa.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad the judge narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd al-Ṣaydalānī narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Shujāʿ narrated to us: I heard ʿAlī ibn ʿĀṣim say: If Abū Ḥanīfa’s intellect were weighed against half the intellect of the earth’s people, it would outweigh theirs. No one was greater in his estimation than Abū Ḥanīfa.

ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan al-Rāzī narrated to us: Al-Zaʿfarānī al-Wāsiṭī narrated to us: Ibn Abī Khaythama narrated to us: Sulaymān ibn Manṣūr narrated to us: Ḥujr ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār narrated to me: People saw no one more gracious in company or more honoring of his companions than Abū Ḥanīfa. Ḥujr said: It used to be said that people of noble character possess more complete intellects than others.

ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan al-Rāzī narrated to us: Al-Zaʿfarānī al-Wāsiṭī narrated to us: Ibn Abī Khaythama narrated to us: Sulaymān ibn Manṣūr narrated to us: Ḥujr ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār narrated to me: People saw no one more gracious in company or more honoring of his companions than Abū Ḥanīfa. Ḥujr said: It used to be said that people of noble character possess more complete intellects than others.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Al-Jumānī narrated to us: I heard Ibn al-Mubārak say: I said to Sufyān al-Thawrī: Abū ʿAbd Allāh, how far Abū Ḥanīfa keeps from backbiting! I have never heard him backbite an enemy. He said: By God, he is too intelligent to expose his good deeds to something that would destroy them.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Al-Ḥimmānī narrated to us: I heard Ibn al-Mubārak say: I said to Sufyān al-Thawrī: Abū ʿAbd Allāh, how far Abū Ḥanīfa keeps from backbiting! I have never heard him backbite an enemy. He said: By God, he is too intelligent to expose his good deeds to something that would destroy them.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: I heard Muḥammad ibn Samāʿa say: I heard Abū Yūsuf say: When Abū Ḥanīfa wished to go out, he inspected his sandal strap, and if it needed mending he mended it. He often wore leather socks. I never saw him with a broken sandal strap. Abū ʿAbd Allāh also did this.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: I heard Muḥammad ibn Samāʿa say: I heard Abū Yūsuf say: When Abū Ḥanīfa wished to go out, he inspected his sandal strap, and if it needed mending he mended it. He often wore leather socks. I never saw him with a broken sandal strap. Abū ʿAbd Allāh also did this.

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿīd al-Jawharī narrated to us: I was with the Commander of the Faithful al-Rashīd when Abū Yūsuf entered. Al-Rashīd said: Abū Yūsuf, describe Abū Ḥanīfa’s character to me—may God be pleased with him. He said: God Most High says, ‘He utters no word without an ever-ready watcher beside him,’ and such a watcher is beside every speaker’s tongue. What I knew of Abū Ḥanīfa was that he vigorously defended God’s prohibitions against violation and was extremely scrupulous about speaking in God’s religion without knowledge. He loved God to be obeyed and not disobeyed. He avoided worldly people in their age and did not compete for worldly prestige. He remained silent long and reflected continually upon extensive work. He was neither babbling nor talkative. If asked a question about which he possessed knowledge, he expressed it and answered with what he had heard. Otherwise he reasoned by analogy according to truth and followed it. He protected himself and his religion, freely gave knowledge and wealth, was self-sufficient without needing anyone, and inclined toward no greed. He kept far from backbiting and mentioned no one except favorably. Al-Rashīd said: This is the character of the righteous. He told the scribe: Write this description and give it to my son to examine. Then he said to his son: Memorize it, my son, so I may question you about it, God willing.

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿīd al-Jawharī narrated to us: I was with the Commander of the Faithful al-Rashīd when Abū Yūsuf entered. Al-Rashīd said: Abū Yūsuf, describe Abū Ḥanīfa’s character to me. He said: God Most High says, ‘He utters no word without an ever-ready watcher beside him,’ and such a watcher is beside every speaker’s tongue. What I knew of Abū Ḥanīfa was that he vigorously defended God’s prohibitions against violation and was extremely scrupulous about speaking in God’s religion without knowledge. He loved God to be obeyed and not disobeyed. He avoided worldly people in their age and did not compete for worldly prestige. He remained silent long and reflected continually upon extensive work. He was neither babbling nor talkative. If asked a question about which he possessed knowledge, he expressed it and answered with what he had heard. Otherwise he reasoned by analogy according to truth and followed it. He protected himself and his religion, freely gave knowledge and wealth, was self-sufficient without needing anyone, and inclined toward no greed. He kept far from backbiting and mentioned no one except favorably. Al-Rashīd said: This is the character of the righteous. He told the scribe: Write this description and give it to my son to examine. Then he said to his son: Memorize it, my son, so I may question you about it, God willing.

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥulwānī informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: I heard Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām say: I heard Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan say: Abū Ḥanīfa was unique in his age. If the earth had split open to reveal him, it would have revealed a mountain among mountains in knowledge, generosity, mutual support, scrupulousness, and selflessness for God, together with jurisprudence and learning.

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥulwānī informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: I heard Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām say: I heard Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan say: Abū Ḥanīfa was unique in his age. If the earth had split open to reveal him, it would have revealed a mountain among mountains in knowledge, generosity, mutual support, scrupulousness, and selflessness for God, together with jurisprudence and learning.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Mulayḥ narrated to us: I heard my father say: We were with Zufar when Sufyān and Abū Ḥanīfa were mentioned. Zufar said: When Abū Ḥanīfa spoke about lawful and unlawful matters, Sufyān became preoccupied with himself. Who was more noble than Abū Ḥanīfa? In scrupulousness and abstention from backbiting he attained what others could not. He was forbearing and patient—may God have mercy on him.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Mulayḥ narrated to us: I heard my father say: We were with Zufar when Sufyān and Abū Ḥanīfa were mentioned. Zufar said: When Abū Ḥanīfa spoke about lawful and unlawful matters, Sufyān became preoccupied with himself. Who was more noble than Abū Ḥanīfa? In scrupulousness and abstention from backbiting he attained what others could not. He was forbearing and patient—may God have mercy on him.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Ibn Muqātil narrated to us: I heard Ibn al-Mubārak say: When I hear a man disparage Abū Ḥanīfa, I do not wish to see or sit with him, lest a sign of God’s punishment descend upon him and I be taken swiftly with him. God knows that I do not approve of what is said about him. No one disparages him without Abū Ḥanīfa being better than he. By God, he was scrupulous, guarded his tongue, ate from lawful sources, and possessed, by God, abundant and extensive knowledge.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Ibn Muqātil narrated to us: I heard Ibn al-Mubārak say: When I hear a man disparage Abū Ḥanīfa, I do not wish to see or sit with him, lest a sign of God’s punishment descend upon him and I be taken swiftly with him. God knows that I do not approve of what is said about him. No one disparages him without Abū Ḥanīfa being better than he. By God, he was scrupulous, guarded his tongue, ate from lawful sources, and possessed, by God, abundant and extensive knowledge.

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad the witness informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Ibn Kāsib narrated to us: I heard Ibn ʿUyayna say: Ibn Jurayj said: I have heard that al-Nuʿmān, Kufa’s jurist, is extremely scrupulous, protects his religion and knowledge, and does not prefer worldly people to people of the hereafter. I think he will have an extraordinary standing in knowledge.

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad the witness informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Ibn Kāsib narrated to us: I heard Ibn ʿUyayna say: Ibn Jurayj said: I have heard that al-Nuʿmān, Kufa’s jurist, is extremely scrupulous, protects his religion and knowledge, and does not prefer worldly people to people of the hereafter. I think he will have an extraordinary and great standing in knowledge.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Al-Ḥulwānī narrated to us: I heard ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Hammām, brother of ʿAbd al-Razzāq ibn Hammām, say: Every elder of Aden whom I saw who had visited Kufa to seek knowledge said: In Abū Ḥanīfa’s time we saw no one in Kufa more learned in jurisprudence or more scrupulous than he.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Al-Ḥulwānī narrated to us: I heard ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Hammām, brother of ʿAbd al-Razzāq ibn Hammām, say: Every elder of Aden whom I saw who had visited Kufa to seek knowledge said: In Abū Ḥanīfa’s time we saw no one in Kufa more learned in jurisprudence or more scrupulous than he.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Yūnus narrated to us: I heard al-Ḥasan ibn Ṣāliḥ say: Abū Ḥanīfa was extremely scrupulous, fearful of the forbidden, and avoided much that was lawful for fear of doubtful matters. I never saw a jurist more protective of himself and his knowledge. All his preparations were for his grave.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Yūnus narrated to us: I heard al-Ḥasan ibn Ṣāliḥ say: Abū Ḥanīfa was extremely scrupulous, fearful of the forbidden, and avoided much that was lawful for fear of doubtful matters. I never saw a jurist more protective of himself and his knowledge. All his preparations were for his grave.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Abū al-ʿAbbās, Jabāra’s nephew, narrated to us: Ibn Abī Rizma narrated to us: I heard al-Naḍr ibn Muḥammad say: I saw no one more scrupulous than Abū Ḥanīfa. He had no taste for jesting and did not engage in it. I never saw him laugh heartily, but he would smile.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Abū al-ʿAbbās, Jabāra’s nephew, narrated to us: Ibn Abī Rizma narrated to us: I heard al-Naḍr ibn Muḥammad say: I saw no one more scrupulous than Abū Ḥanīfa. He had no taste for jesting and did not engage in it. I never saw him laugh heartily, but he would smile.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Al-Jumānī narrated to us: Ibn al-Mubārak narrated to us: Abū Ḥanīfa wanted to buy an enslaved woman and spent ten years choosing and consulting about which captive group to purchase from.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Al-Ḥimmānī narrated to us: Ibn al-Mubārak narrated to us: Abū Ḥanīfa wanted to buy an enslaved woman and spent twenty years choosing and consulting about which captive group to purchase from.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Bazzāz informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn narrated to us: Yazīd ibn Hārūn told me: I wrote from a thousand teachers and carried knowledge from them. By God, I saw none more scrupulous than Abū Ḥanīfa or more protective of his tongue.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Bazzāz informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn narrated to us: Yazīd ibn Hārūn told me: I wrote from a thousand teachers and carried knowledge from them. By God, I saw none more scrupulous than Abū Ḥanīfa or more protective of his tongue.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr al-Ḥarīrī narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad the judge narrated to us: Ibrāhīm ibn Ismāʿīl al-Ṭalḥī narrated to us, from his father, from al-Ḥasan ibn Ziyād, who said: By God, Abū Ḥanīfa accepted no reward or gift from any of them.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr al-Ḥarīrī narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad the judge narrated to us: Ibrāhīm ibn Ismāʿīl al-Ṭalḥī narrated to us, from his father, from al-Ḥasan ibn Ziyād, who said: By God, Abū Ḥanīfa accepted no reward or gift from any of them.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the reciter informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Ibn Samāʿa narrated to us: I heard Abū Yūsuf say: Abū Ḥanīfa was asked, when ʿAlqama and al-Aswad were mentioned: Which was more excellent? He said: By God, my standing allows me only to mention them with prayers and requests for forgiveness, out of reverence for them. How could I rank one above the other?

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the reciter informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Ibn Samāʿa narrated to us: I heard Abū Yūsuf say: Abū Ḥanīfa was asked, when ʿAlqama and al-Aswad were mentioned: Which was more excellent? He said: By God, my standing allows me only to mention them with prayers and requests for forgiveness, out of reverence for them. How could I rank one above the other?

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī informed us: Abū Bakr al-Miskī narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī narrated to us: Sulaymān ibn al-Rabīʿ narrated to us: Ḥibbān ibn Mūsā narrated to us: I heard Ibn al-Mubārak say: I came to Kufa and asked who was the most scrupulous scholar. They said: Abū Ḥanīfa.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī informed us: Abū Bakr al-Miskī narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī narrated to us: Sulaymān ibn al-Rabīʿ narrated to us: Ḥibbān ibn Mūsā narrated to us: I heard Ibn al-Mubārak say: I came to Kufa and asked who was the most scrupulous scholar. They said: Abū Ḥanīfa.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr al-Ḥarīrī narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad the judge narrated to us: Al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Ḥakam al-Jabrī narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Ḥafṣ al-Bazzāz narrated to us: Ḥafṣ ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān was Abū Ḥanīfa’s partner, and Abū Ḥanīfa supplied him with merchandise. Once he sent goods and told him that a particular cloth had a defect: When you sell it, disclose it. Ḥafṣ sold the goods and forgot to disclose the defect, and did not know to whom he had sold them. When Abū Ḥanīfa learned of this, he gave the entire proceeds of the goods in charity.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr al-Ḥarīrī narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad the judge narrated to us: Al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Ḥakam al-Ḥibrī narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Ḥafṣ al-Bazzāz narrated to us: Ḥafṣ ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān was Abū Ḥanīfa’s partner, and Abū Ḥanīfa supplied him with merchandise. Once he sent goods and told him that a particular cloth had a defect: When you sell it, disclose it. Ḥafṣ sold the goods and forgot to disclose the defect, and did not know to whom he had sold them. When Abū Ḥanīfa learned of this, he gave the entire proceeds of the goods in charity.

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: I heard al-Ḥasan ibn Ḥammād say: I heard Ibn al-Mubārak, mentioning Abū Ḥanīfa, say: What can you say about a man offered the world and great wealth who cast them behind his back? He was whipped and told: Take worldly rewards. He remained patient in prosperity and adversity and did not enter what others sought and desired. By God, he was the opposite of those we encountered: they seek the world while it flees them, whereas the world comes to him and he flees it.

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: I heard al-Ḥasan ibn Ḥammād say: I heard Ibn al-Mubārak, mentioning Abū Ḥanīfa, say: What can you say about a man offered the world and great wealth who cast them behind his back? He was whipped and told: Take worldly rewards. He remained patient in prosperity and adversity and did not enter what others sought and desired. By God, he was the opposite of those we encountered: they seek the world while it flees them, whereas the world comes to him and he flees it.

ʿUmar informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Abū Nuʿaym narrated to us: I heard Abū Yūsuf say: After the dawn prayer, Abū Ḥanīfa was asked questions and answered them. He was asked: Did they not dislike speaking at such a time except of good things? Abū Ḥanīfa said: What greater good is there than saying: This is lawful and this forbidden—declaring God’s holiness and warning people against disobeying Him? When a provision bag is empty of food, its owner goes hungry.

ʿUmar informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Abū Nuʿaym narrated to us: I heard Abū Yūsuf say: After the dawn prayer, Abū Ḥanīfa was asked questions and answered them. He was asked: Did they not dislike speaking at such a time except of good things? Abū Ḥanīfa said: What greater good is there than saying: This is lawful and this forbidden—declaring God’s holiness and warning people against disobeying Him? When a provision bag is empty of food, its owner goes hungry.

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Bazzāz informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Salama ibn Shabīb narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Razzāq used to say: Whenever I saw Abū Ḥanīfa, I saw traces of weeping in his eyes and on his cheeks.

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Bazzāz informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Salama ibn Shabīb narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Razzāq used to say: Whenever I saw Abū Ḥanīfa, I saw traces of weeping in his eyes and on his cheeks.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Muqātil narrated to us: Sahl ibn Muzāḥim narrated to us: We used to visit Abū Ḥanīfa and see nothing in his house except reed mats.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Muqātil narrated to us: Sahl ibn Muzāḥim narrated to us: We used to visit Abū Ḥanīfa and see nothing in his house except reed mats.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: I heard Dāwūd ibn Rashīd say: I heard al-Fayḍ ibn Muḥammad al-Raqqī say: I met Abū Ḥanīfa in Baghdad and said: I am going to Kufa; do you need anything? He said: Go to my son Ḥammād and tell him: My son, my monthly sustenance costs two dirhams, sometimes for parched grain flour and sometimes for bread. You have withheld it from me, so send it quickly.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: I heard Dāwūd ibn Rashīd say: I heard al-Fayḍ ibn Muḥammad al-Raqqī say: I met Abū Ḥanīfa in Baghdad and said: I am going to Kufa; do you need anything? He said: Go to my son Ḥammād and tell him: My son, my monthly sustenance costs two dirhams, sometimes for parched grain flour and sometimes for bread. You have withheld it from me, so send it quickly.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Al-Ḥasan ibn Bishr narrated to us: I heard Abū al-Aḥwaṣ swear that if Abū Ḥanīfa were told he would die within three days, there would be nothing additional he could add to the deeds he already performed.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Al-Ḥasan ibn Bishr narrated to us: I heard Abū al-Aḥwaṣ swear that if Abū Ḥanīfa were told he would die within three days, there would be nothing additional he could add to the deeds he already performed.

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥulwānī informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Hilāl ibn Yaḥyā narrated to us: I heard Abū Yūsuf say: Abū Ḥanīfa often quoted this verse: It is sorrow enough to have neither a pleasant life nor a righteous deed with which God is pleased.

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥulwānī informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Hilāl ibn Yaḥyā narrated to us: I heard Abū Yūsuf say: Abū Ḥanīfa often quoted this verse: It is sorrow enough to have neither a pleasant life nor a righteous deed with which God is pleased.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Samāʿa narrated to us: I heard Abū Yūsuf say: I heard Abū Ḥanīfa say: Whoever speaks on a matter of knowledge and assumes responsibility for it, thinking God will not ask him, ‘How did you give rulings in God’s religion?’, has treated his own self and religion lightly. Abū Yūsuf said: Abū Ḥanīfa was a successor to those who had passed, and by God he left no one like himself on the earth.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Samāʿa narrated to us: I heard Abū Yūsuf say: I heard Abū Ḥanīfa say: Whoever speaks on a matter of knowledge and assumes responsibility for it, thinking God will not ask him, ‘How did you give rulings in God’s religion?’, has treated his own self and religion lightly. Abū Yūsuf said: Abū Ḥanīfa was a successor to those who had passed, and by God he left no one like himself on the earth.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Tamīm ibn al-Muntaṣir narrated to us: I was with Yazīd ibn Hārūn when Abū Ḥanīfa was mentioned and someone disparaged him. Yazīd lowered his head for a long time. They said: May God have mercy on you, narrate to us. He said: Abū Ḥanīfa was God-fearing, pure, ascetic, learned, truthful in speech, and the best at retaining knowledge in his age. I heard everyone of his age whom I encountered say he had seen no one more learned in jurisprudence.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Tamīm ibn al-Muntaṣir narrated to us: I was with Yazīd ibn Hārūn when Abū Ḥanīfa was mentioned and someone disparaged him. Yazīd lowered his head for a long time. They said: May God have mercy on you, narrate to us. He said: Abū Ḥanīfa was God-fearing, pure, ascetic, learned, truthful in speech, and the best at retaining knowledge in his age. I heard everyone of his age whom I encountered say he had seen no one more learned in jurisprudence.

ʿUmar informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Dāwūd ibn Rashīd narrated to us: I heard Zayd ibn Abī al-Zarqāʾ say: A man said to Abū Ḥanīfa: The world is offered to you, and you have dependents. He said: God provides for the dependents. My own monthly sustenance costs two dirhams. Why should I accumulate for someone when God will question me about accumulating for him? Whether they obey or disobey God, God’s provision comes morning and evening to both the disobedient and the obedient. Then he would recite: ‘In heaven is your provision and what you are promised.’

ʿUmar informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Dāwūd ibn Rashīd narrated to us: I heard Zayd ibn Abī al-Zarqāʾ say: A man said to Abū Ḥanīfa: The world is offered to you, and you have dependents. He said: God provides for the dependents. My own monthly sustenance costs two dirhams. Why should I accumulate for someone when God will question me about accumulating for him? Whether they obey or disobey God, God’s provision comes morning and evening to both the disobedient and the obedient. Then he would recite: ‘In heaven is your provision and what you are promised.’

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Ibrāhīm ibn Hāshim narrated to us: I heard Bishr ibn al-Ḥārith say: I was with ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus when he mentioned Abū Ḥanīfa, prayed for him, and said: How strenuously he endeavored that God should not be disobeyed and His sacred limits should be honored!

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Ibrāhīm ibn Hāshim narrated to us: I heard Bishr ibn al-Ḥārith say: I was with ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus when he mentioned Abū Ḥanīfa, prayed for him, and said: How strenuously he endeavored that God should not be disobeyed and His sacred limits should be honored!

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr al-Ḥarīrī narrated to us: The judge ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Ṭayālisī narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Muqātil was asked about Abū Ḥanīfa and Sufyān. He said: One who is tested and flees is unlike one who is tested and remains patient.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī informed us: ʿAlī ibn ʿAmr al-Ḥarīrī narrated to us: The judge ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Ṭayālisī narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Muqātil was asked about Abū Ḥanīfa and Sufyān. He said: One who is tested and flees is unlike one who is tested and remains patient.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Ismāʿīl ibn Bahrām narrated to us: I heard Khārija ibn Muṣʿab say: I went on pilgrimage and left an enslaved woman of mine with Abū Ḥanīfa. I stayed in Mecca about four months. When I returned, I asked: How did you find this woman’s service and character? He said: Whoever recites the Qurʾān and preserves for people the knowledge of lawful and unlawful matters must protect himself from temptation. By God, I did not see your enslaved woman from your departure until your return. I asked her about him and his conduct at home. She said: I have neither seen nor heard anyone like him. Since entering his household, I have never seen him sleep on bedding, nor bathe by night or day because of major ritual impurity. On Fridays he would go out to pray the dawn prayer, then return home and offer a short midmorning prayer, because he went early to the congregational mosque. He bathed for Friday, applied a little oil, and went to prayer. I never saw him break his fast during the day. He ate late at night, then slept briefly and went out to prayer.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: Ismāʿīl ibn Bahrām narrated to us: I heard Khārija ibn Muṣʿab say: I went on pilgrimage and left an enslaved woman of mine with Abū Ḥanīfa. I stayed in Mecca about four months. When I returned, I asked: How did you find this woman’s service and character? He said: Whoever recites the Qurʾān and preserves for people the knowledge of lawful and unlawful matters must protect himself from temptation. By God, I did not see your enslaved woman from your departure until your return. I asked her about him and his conduct at home. She said: I have neither seen nor heard anyone like him. Since entering his household, I have never seen him sleep on bedding, nor bathe by night or day because of major ritual impurity. On Fridays he would go out to pray the dawn prayer, then return home and offer a short midmorning prayer, because he went early to the congregational mosque. He bathed for Friday, applied a little oil, and went to prayer. I never saw him break his fast during the day. He ate late at night, then slept briefly and went out to prayer.

ʿUmar informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Mulayḥ ibn Wakīʿ narrated to us: My father told me: I was with Abū Ḥanīfa when a woman brought a silk-fabric garment and said: Sell it for me. He asked: What price were you told to sell it for? She said: A hundred. He said: It is worth more than a hundred. He kept asking what price she named, and she increased by a hundred until she said four hundred. He said: It is worth more. She said: You are mocking me! He said: Bring a man. She brought one, who bought it for five hundred dirhams.

ʿUmar informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Mulayḥ ibn Wakīʿ narrated to us: My father said: I was with Abū Ḥanīfa when a woman brought a silk-fabric garment and said: Sell it for me. He asked: What price were you told to sell it for? She said: A hundred. He said: It is worth more than a hundred. He kept asking what price she named, and she increased by a hundred until she said four hundred. He said: It is worth more. She said: You are mocking me! He said: Bring a man. She brought one, who bought it for five hundred dirhams.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Mulayḥ narrated to us: I heard my father say: Abū Ḥanīfa—may God be pleased with him—was supremely trustworthy, dignified in himself, and preferred his Lord over everything. If swords had assailed him for God’s sake, he would have endured them.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad narrated to us: Mulayḥ narrated to us: I heard my father say: Abū Ḥanīfa—may God be pleased with him—was supremely trustworthy, dignified in himself, and preferred his Lord over everything. If swords had assailed him for God’s sake, he would have endured them.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Muḥammad al-Marwazī narrated to us: I heard Muḥammad ibn Shujāʿ say: I heard al-Ḥasan ibn Abī Mālik say: I heard Abū Yūsuf say: I heard that Abū Ḥanīfa accepted deposits from Khurasanians. After he died, they brought them to Ḥammād, who said: I will not accept them. He was told: Your father used to accept them. He replied: My father had someone like me, but I have no one like him.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us: Makram narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Muḥammad al-Marwazī narrated to us: I heard Muḥammad ibn Shujāʿ say: I heard al-Ḥasan ibn Abī Mālik say: I heard Abū Yūsuf say: I heard that Abū Ḥanīfa accepted deposits from Khurasanians. After he died, they brought them to Ḥammād, who said: I will not accept them. He was told: Your father used to accept them. He replied: My father had someone like me, but I have no one like him.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī informed us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Miskī narrated to us: Ibn Kaʾs the judge narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq al-Bakkāʾī narrated to us: I heard Jaʿfar ibn ʿAwn al-ʿUmarī say: A woman came to Abū Ḥanīfa seeking a silk-fabric garment. He brought one out for her. She said: I am a woman of limited means, and this is a matter of trust; sell this garment to me at what it costs you. He said: Take it for four dirhams. She said: “Do not mock me; I am an elderly woman.” He said: “I bought two garments and sold one for the purchase price less four dirhams. This remaining one consequently costs me four dirhams.”

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣayrafī informed us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Miskī narrated to us: Ibn Kaʾs the judge narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq al-Bakkāʾī narrated to us: I heard Jaʿfar ibn ʿAwn al-ʿUmarī say: A woman came to Abū Ḥanīfa seeking a silk-fabric garment. He brought one out for her. She said: I am a woman of limited means, and this is a matter of trust; sell this garment to me at what it costs you. He said: Take it for four dirhams. She said: “Do not mock me; I am an elderly woman.” He said: “I bought two garments and sold one for the purchase price less four dirhams. This remaining one consequently costs me four dirhams.”

Abū ʿUbayd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿImrān ibn Mūsā al-Marzubānī informed us: Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥakīmī related to us: Aḥmad ibn Zuhayr related to us: Sulaymān ibn Abī Shaykh related to us: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ ibn Muslim al-ʿIjlī related to us: A man in Syria said to al-Ḥakam ibn Hishām al-Thaqafī: “Tell me about Abū Ḥanīfa.” He replied: “He was among the most trustworthy people. Our ruler demanded that he take charge of the keys to his treasuries or be beaten on his back. He chose the ruler’s punishment over God’s punishment.” He said: “I have never seen anyone describe Abū Ḥanīfa as you have.” He replied: “By God, he was as I have told you.”

Abū ʿUbayd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿImrān ibn Mūsā al-Marzubānī informed us: Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥakīmī related to us: Aḥmad ibn Zuhayr related to us: Sulaymān ibn Abī Shaykh related to us: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ ibn Muslim al-ʿIjlī related to us: A man in Syria said to al-Ḥakam ibn Hishām al-Thaqafī: “Tell me about Abū Ḥanīfa.” He replied: “He was among the most trustworthy people. Our ruler demanded that he take charge of the keys to his treasuries or be beaten on his back. He chose their punishment over God’s punishment.” He said: “I have never seen anyone describe Abū Ḥanīfa as you have.” He replied: “By God, he was as I have told you.”