يحيى بن سليم

Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā ibn Yūsuf related to us. He said: ʿAlī ibn Muḥallab, Abū al-Ḥasan al-Qaṣīr, related to us. He said: I heard Ṣafar ibn Ibrāhīm say: I was with al-Fuḍayl in Mecca when a letter reached me from Bukhara containing a question: a frog had fallen into thickened syrup and died. I asked al-Fuḍayl about it, and he said: “I do not know.” I said: “Whom should I ask?” He said: “[Ask] Yaḥyā ibn Sulaym, and tell me what he says.” I asked him, and he said: “I do not know.” I said to him: “Whom should I ask?” He said: “Ask Sufyān ibn ʿUyayna.” I went to him and found him praying, so I waited until he finished and asked him. He said: “I do not know.” A man came up to me and called me over. He said: “What are you asking about?” I said: “A question [arose], and I asked al-Fuḍayl. He did not know and directed me to Yaḥyā. I asked him, but he did not know. I also asked Ibn ʿUyayna, but he did not know.” He said to me: “Go to Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan, the man praying by the waterspout.” I went [to him] and found him praying. I waited, and he ended his prayer with the salutation. He said to me: “What do you want?” I said: “A frog fell into thickened syrup and died in it. May it be eaten?” He said: “That is its place.” I said: “How can a frog have a place in syrup?” He said to me: “What would you say if it fell into water?” I said: “There would be no harm.” He said: “It is the same in syrup, too.” I returned to al-Fuḍayl and told him. He marveled and shook his head.

Rubb is rendered “thickened syrup.” The brief reply “That is its place” is retained without supplying an explanation not stated in the text. Printed brackets are preserved.

ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Saʿd al-Kassī related to us. He said: I heard al-Fatḥ ibn ʿAmr say: I heard al-Luʾluʾī say: I arrived in Mecca and found Yaḥyā ibn Sulaym al-Ṭāʾifī sitting among a gathering, reading Ibn Jurayj’s book on the pilgrimage rites. He said: He would say, “ʿAṭāʾ said to me,” and “I asked ʿAṭāʾ.” He said: The shaykh was impressed by these questions and said: “Where is Abū Ḥanīfa in relation to these questions?” I said: “By God, now the occasion to speak has come.” I said to him: “May God have mercy on you! Abū Ḥanīfa, may God be pleased with him, has passed away, and I am one of his closest students. Will you permit me to speak?” He said to me: “Who are you?” I said: “I am al-Ḥasan ibn Ziyād al-Luʾluʾī.” He said: “I will not permit you—again, I will not permit you.” Had he permitted me, I would have made him a warning to everyone.

Ibrāhīm ibn Manṣūr al-Bukhārī related to us. He said: Ḥanash ibn Ḥarb al-Baykandī related to us. He said: Yaḥyā ibn Sulaym related to us. He said: Abū Ḥanīfa, may God be pleased with him, and ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abī Rawwād held the same view concerning faith.

Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Kūfī related to us. He said: Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn Hishām related to us. He said: Ḥarb ibn al-Ḥasan related to us. He said: Yaḥyā ibn Sulaym related to us. He said: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abī Rawwād and Abū Ḥanīfa, may God be pleased with them both, did not make an exception when professing faith, whereas Sufyān al-Thawrī did.

The source uses the technical expression “making an exception” concerning faith. No unprinted formula has been inserted.