Biographical source entries from al-Ṣaymarī are collected below.
3 source accounts
ومن اصحابه أيضا حبان ومندل ابنا علي وحفص ابن غياث وابو عاصم الضحاك بن مخلد وقد أخذ عنه الفضيل بن عياض الفقه وعبد الله بن داود الخريبي
ومن اصحابه أيضا حبان ومندل ابنا علي وحفص ابن غياث وابو عاصم الضحاك بن مخلد وقد أخذ عنه الفضيل بن عياض الفقه وعبد الله بن داود الخريبي
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Among his companions were also Ḥibbān and Mandal, the two sons of ʿAlī, Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth, and Abū ʿĀṣim al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Makhlad. Al-Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dāwūd al-Khuraybī also learned jurisprudence from him.
Among his companions were also Ḥibbān and Mandal, the two sons of ʿAlī, Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth, and Abū ʿĀṣim al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Makhlad. Al-Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dāwūd al-Khuraybī also learned jurisprudence from him.
Sources: Al-Afghānī · p. 158 / Baktāsh · pp. 261–262
Both report texts and their locations have been checked against the supplied scans. Punctuation and spacing are lightly normalized; editorial dates and entry numbers are kept outside the report text.
أخبرنا عبد الله بن محمد القاضي قال أنبأ أبو بكر الدامغاني قال أنبأ الطحاوي قال سمعت أبا خازم يقول سمعت عبد الرحمن بن نائل القاضي يقول كنت أسأل هلالا وأبا عاصم عن مسائل محمد بن الحسن من الجامع الكبير فكان أبو عاصم أحفظ لها من هلال قال وكانا يقعدان في جامع البصرة إلى سارية واحدة ولزم أبو عاصم زفر بن الهذيل بعد أبي حنيفة وعليه تفقه وهو الذي لقبه ب النبيل
أخبرنا عبد الله بن محمد القاضي قال أنبأ أبو بكر الدامغاني قال أنبأ الطحاوي قال سمعت أبا خازم يقول سمعت عبد الرحمن بن نائل القاضي يقول كنت أسأل هلالا وأبا عاصم عن مسائل محمد بن الحسن من الجامع الكبير فكان أبو عاصم أحفظ لها من هلال قال وكانا يقعدان في جامع البصرة إلى سارية واحدة ولزم أبو عاصم زفر بن الهذيل بعد أبي حنيفة وعليه تفقه وهو الذي لقبه ب النبيل
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ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad the judge informed us, saying: Abū Bakr al-Dāmghānī informed us, saying: al-Ṭaḥāwī informed us, saying: I heard Abū Khāzim say: I heard ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Nāʾil the judge say: I used to ask Hilāl and Abū ʿĀṣim about Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan’s legal questions in al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr. Abū ʿĀṣim remembered them better than Hilāl. He said: They would sit beside the same pillar in the congregational mosque of Basra. Abū ʿĀṣim attached himself to Zufar ibn al-Hudhayl after Abū Ḥanīfa and studied jurisprudence under him. He was the one who gave him the epithet “al-Nabīl”.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad the judge informed us, saying: Abū Bakr al-Dāmghānī informed us, saying: al-Ṭaḥāwī informed us, saying: I heard Abū Khāzim say: I heard ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Nāʾil the judge say: I used to ask Hilāl and Abū ʿĀṣim about Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan’s legal questions in al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr. Abū ʿĀṣim remembered them better than Hilāl. He said: They would sit beside the same pillar in the congregational mosque of Basra. Abū ʿĀṣim attached himself to Zufar ibn al-Hudhayl after Abū Ḥanīfa and studied jurisprudence under him. He was the one who gave him the epithet “al-Nabīl”.
Both report texts and their locations have been checked against the supplied scans. Punctuation and spacing are lightly normalized; editorial dates and entry numbers are kept outside the report text.
اخبرنا عبد الله بن محمد قال أنبأ أبو بكر الدامغاني قال ثنا الطحاوي قال أنبأ يزيد بن سنان قال كنا يوما عند أبي عاصم فتحدثنا شيئا وقال بعضنا لبعض لم سمي أبو عاصم النبيل فسمع ذلك فسألنا عما نحن فيه وكان إذا عزم على شيء لم نقدر على خلافه فذكرنا له ذلك فقال نعم كنا نختلف إلى زفر وكان معنا رجل من بني سعد يكنى أبا عاصم وكان ضعيف الحال فكان يأتي زفر بثياب رثة وكنت انا آتية بطويلة على دابة بثياب سرية فاستأذنت عليه يوما فأجابتني جارية له وفيه عجمة يقول لها زهرة فقال من هذا فقلت لها أبو عاصم فدخلت على مولاها فقال لها من بالباب قالت أبو عاصم فقال لها من أبو عاصم ليقف على المستأذن عليه من هو أنا أو السعدي فقالت له ذاك النبيل ثم أذنت لي عليه فدخلت عليه وهو يضحك فقلت له ما يضحكك أصلحك الله فقال إن هذه الجارية لقبتك بلقب لا أراه يفارقك أبدا في حياتك ولا بعد موتك ثم أخبرني خبرها فسميت منه يومئذ النبيل
اخبرنا عبد الله بن محمد قال أنبأ أبو بكر الدامغاني قال ثنا الطحاوي قال أنبأ يزيد بن سنان قال كنا يوما عند أبي عاصم فتحدثنا شيئا وقال بعضنا لبعض لم سمي أبو عاصم النبيل فسمع ذلك فسألنا عما نحن فيه وكان إذا عزم على شيء لم نقدر على خلافه فذكرنا له ذلك فقال نعم كنا نختلف إلى زفر وكان معنا رجل من بني سعد يكنى أبا عاصم وكان ضعيف الحال فكان يأتي زفر بثياب رثة وكنت انا آتية بطويلة على دابة بثياب سرية فاستأذنت عليه يوما فأجابتني جارية كانت له وفيها عجمة يقال لها زهرة فقال من هذا فقلت لها أبو عاصم فدخلت على مولاها فقال لها من بالباب قالت أبو عاصم فقال لها من أبو عاصم ليقف على المستأذن عليه من هو أنا أو السعدي فقالت له ذاك النبيل ثم أذنت لي عليه فدخلت عليه وهو يضحك فقلت له ما يضحكك أصلحك الله فقال إن هذه الجارية لقبتك بلقب لا أراه يفارقك أبدا في حياتك ولا بعد موتك ثم أخبرني خبرها فسميت منه يومئذ النبيل
Show English translation
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us, saying: Abū Bakr al-Dāmghānī informed us, saying: al-Ṭaḥāwī related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Sinān informed us, saying: We were with Abū ʿĀṣim one day, talking among ourselves. Some of us asked others: “Why was Abū ʿĀṣim called al-Nabīl?” He heard that and asked us what we were discussing. When he resolved upon something we could not oppose him, so we told him. He said: “Yes. We used to attend Zufar, and with us was a man of Banū Saʿd whose kunya was Abū ʿĀṣim. He was in straitened circumstances and would come to Zufar in worn clothes. I, on the other hand, used to come to him wearing a tall cap, riding an animal, and dressed in fine clothes. One day I asked permission to enter. A servant girl of his answered me; she had a foreign accent, and he called her Zahra. She asked: ‘Who is this?’ I told her: ‘Abū ʿĀṣim.’ She entered to her master, and he asked her: ‘Who is at the door?’ She said: ‘Abū ʿĀṣim.’ He asked her: ‘Which Abū ʿĀṣim?’ He wanted to determine who was asking permission to enter, whether it was I or al-Saʿdī. She said to him: ‘That distinguished one.’ Then she gave me permission to enter. I entered while he was laughing and asked him: ‘What makes you laugh? May God set you right.’ He said: ‘This servant girl has given you an epithet that I do not think will ever leave you, either during your life or after your death.’ He then told me what she had said. From that day I was called al-Nabīl.”
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad informed us, saying: Abū Bakr al-Dāmghānī informed us, saying: al-Ṭaḥāwī related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Sinān informed us, saying: We were with Abū ʿĀṣim one day, talking among ourselves. Some of us asked others: “Why was Abū ʿĀṣim called al-Nabīl?” He heard that and asked us what we were discussing. When he resolved upon something we could not oppose him, so we told him. He said: “Yes. We used to attend Zufar, and with us was a man of Banū Saʿd whose kunya was Abū ʿĀṣim. He was in straitened circumstances and would come to Zufar in worn clothes. I, on the other hand, used to come to him wearing a tall cap, riding an animal, and dressed in fine clothes. One day I asked permission to enter. A servant girl of his answered me; she had a foreign accent, and he called her Zahra. She asked: ‘Who is this?’ I told her: ‘Abū ʿĀṣim.’ She entered to her master, and he asked her: ‘Who is at the door?’ She said: ‘Abū ʿĀṣim.’ He asked her: ‘Which Abū ʿĀṣim?’ He wanted to determine who was asking permission to enter, whether it was I or al-Saʿdī. She said to him: ‘That distinguished one.’ Then she gave me permission to enter. I entered while he was laughing and asked him: ‘What makes you laugh? May God set you right.’ He said: ‘This servant girl has given you an epithet that I do not think will ever leave you, either during your life or after your death.’ He then told me what she had said. From that day I was called al-Nabīl.”
Sources: Al-Afghānī · p. 159 / Baktāsh · pp. 263–264
Both report texts and their locations have been checked against the supplied scans. Punctuation and spacing are lightly normalized; editorial dates and entry numbers are kept outside the report text.
Edition comparison
Servant description
Baktāsh reads a servant girl who belonged to him and “had a foreign accent, called Zahra”; the older text has the masculine وفيه and says he called her Zahra. The worn clothing is رثة in both scans, correcting the digital ثرية.