Zāfir ibn Sulaymān

Al-Rabīʿ ibn al-Ḥassān al-Kissī related to us: al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿĪsā al-Bisṭāmī related to us: My father related to us, from Zāfir ibn Sulaymān, from Bakr ibn Khunays, who said: If Abū Ḥanīfa’s intellect and the intellects of the people of his time were weighed together, his intellect would outweigh theirs.

Ṣāliḥ ibn Saʿīd ibn Mirdās al-Tirmidhī related to us: Ṣāliḥ ibn Muḥammad al-Tirmidhī related to us: Zāfir ibn Sulaymān related to us, from Abū Ḥanīfa—may God be pleased with him—from ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ: A man among the Prophet’s companions—God bless him and grant him peace, and may He be pleased with them—related to him that ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rawāḥa instructed the shepherdess to care for a particular sheep he had identified for her and fatten it. When the sheep had grown fat, the shepherdess lost it, and he slapped her. He mentioned this to the Messenger of God—God bless him and grant him peace. The Prophet—God bless him and grant him peace—regarded it as grave and said, ‘You strike the face of a believing woman!’ He said, ‘She is a black shepherdess.’ The Prophet—God bless him and grant him peace—sent for her and asked, ‘Where is God?’ She said, ‘In heaven.’ He said, ‘Who am I?’ She said, ‘You are God’s Messenger—God bless him and grant him peace.’ He said, ‘She is a believer.’ He then freed her. Zāfir said: I heard Abū Ḥanīfa—may God have mercy on him—relate from ʿAṭāʾ that he said, ‘Call yourselves believers, but do not say, “We are among the people of Paradise.” This was the position on which I left Muḥammad’s companions: they used to say that faith is affirmation, and that sins do not render those who commit them unbelievers.’

Ṣāliḥ ibn Saʿīd related to us: Ṣāliḥ ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: I heard Zāfir say: When Abū Ḥanīfa—may God have mercy on him—spoke, you would imagine that an angel was prompting him with what to say.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Hamadhānī informed us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan related to us: My father related to us: I heard Zāfir ibn Sulaymān say: Abū Ḥanīfa—may God have mercy on him—would spend the night in a single unit of prayer, reciting the Qurʾān in it.

Al-Rabīʿ ibn Ḥassān related to us: al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿĪsā related to us: My father related to us, from Zāfir, who said: Abū Ḥanīfa—may God have mercy on him—was asked about ʿAlī, Muʿāwiya—may God be pleased with them both—and those killed at Ṣiffīn. He said, ‘I fear God lest I venture into something about which God will question me. When He makes me stand before Him on the Day of Resurrection, He will not ask me about any of their affairs, but will ask me about what He charged me with. Seeking forgiveness regarding that is more appropriate.’