Biography of Imam Abu Dawud (Sulayman ibn al-Ash'ath)

It is said: the hafiz Ahmad read before him the name of Usayd ibn al-Houdayr, and he corrected him with a pointed kha.

Those who narrated from him: his son; al-Qasim ibn Asbagh; Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik.

He was of worship and piety, may Allah pardon him.

He lived about ninety years, and died in the year two hundred seventy-three.

No. 117: Abou Dawoud, Sulayman ibn al-Asch'ath ibn Chaddad. His son was ibn Amr ibn Amir, so does Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abi Hatim name him.

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Hashimi said: "Sulayman ibn al-Asch'ath ibn Bichr ibn Chaddad."

Ibn Dasa and Abou Ubayd al-Ajurri say: "Sulayman ibn al-Asch'ath ibn Ishaq ibn Bachir ibn Chaddad"; and likewise says Abou Bakr al-Khatib in his "Chronicle", adding: "ibn Amr ibn Imran."

The imam, the sheikh of the Sunna, the foremost of the hafiz, Abou Dawoud the Azdi, the Sijistani, traditionist of Bassora.

The birth and the teachers of Imam Abu Dawud

He was born in the year two hundred two. He travelled, collected, composed, and excelled in this matter.

Abou Ubayd al-Ajurri said: "I heard him say: I was born in the year two; I prayed with 'Affane in the year seventeen; I entered Bassora while they were saying: yesterday died Uthman ibn al-Haytham the muezzin."

"I heard from Abou Umar the blind a single session."

I say: he died in Chaabane of the year seventeen, and Uthman died a month before him.

He said: "I accompanied Umar ibn Hafs ibn Ghiyath to his lodging and did not hear from him. I heard from Sa'id ibn Sulayman a single session, and from Asim ibn Ali a single session."

I say: he heard in Mecca from al-Qa'nabi and Sulayman ibn Harb.

He heard from: Mouslim ibn Ibrahim; Abdallah ibn Raja'; Abou al-Walid at-Tayalisi; Moussa ibn Isma'il, and their peers, in Bassora.

Then he heard in Koufa from al-Hasan ibn ar-Rabi' al-Bourani, Ahmad ibn Younous al-Yarbou'i, and a group.

He heard from Abou Tawba ar-Rabi' ibn Nafi', in Aleppo.

And from Abou Ja'far an-Noufayli, Ahmad ibn Abi Chou'ayb, and several, in Harran.

And from Haywa ibn Chourayh; Yazid ibn Abd Rabbih; and people, in Homs.

And from Safwan ibn Salih; Hicham ibn Ammar, in Damascus.

And from Ishaq ibn Rahawayhi and his peers, in Khurasan.

And from Ahmad ibn Hanbal and his peers, in Baghdad.

And from Qoutayba ibn Sa'id, in Balkh.

And from Ahmad ibn Salih, and people, in Egypt.

And from Ibrahim ibn Bachchar ar-Ramadi; Ibrahim ibn Moussa al-Farra'; Ali ibn al-Madini; al-Hakam ibn Moussa; Khalaf ibn Hicham; Sa'id ibn Mansour; Sahl ibn Bakkhar; Chadh ibn Fayyad; Abou Ma'mar Abdallah ibn Amr al-Mouq'ad; Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Moubarak al-Aychi; Abd as-Salam ibn Mou tahhir; Abd al-Wahhab ibn Najda; Ali ibn al-Ja'd; Amr ibn Awn; Amr ibn Marzouq; Muhammad ibn as-Sabbah ad-Doulabi; Muhammad ibn al-Minhal the blind; Muhammad ibn Kathir al-Abdi; Mousaddad ibn Mousarhad; Mou'adh ibn Asad; Yahya ibn Ma'in; and many other peoples besides.

The narrators of Imam Abu Dawud

Those who narrated from him: Abou Isa in his "Jami"; an-Nasa'i, as it is said; Ibrahim ibn Hamdan al-Aqouli; Abou at-Tayyib Ahmad ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Ouchnani the Baghdadian, resident of the Rahba, transmitter of the "Sunan" from him; Abou Hamid Ahmad ibn Ja'far al-Asch'ari al-Isbahani; Abou Bakr an-Najjad; Abou Amr Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Hasan al-Basri, transmitter of the "Sunan" from him; Ahmad ibn Dawoud ibn Sulaym; Abou Sa'id ibn al-A'rabi, transmitter of the "Sunan" from him despite a lacuna; Abou Bakr Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Khallal the jurist; Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Yassine al-Harawi; Ahmad ibn al-Mou'alla ad-Dimashqi; Ishaq ibn Moussa ar-Ramli the paper-seller; Isma'il ibn Muhammad as-Saffar.

And Harb ibn Isma'il al-Kermani; al-Hasan ibn the owner of the turban-cloth; al-Hasan ibn Abdallah ad-Dari'; al-Husayn ibn Idris al-Harawi.

And Zakariyya ibn Yahya as-Saji; Abdallah ibn Ahmad al-Ahwazi; his son Abou Bakr ibn Abi Dawoud; Abou Bakr ibn Abi ad-Dunya; Abdallah the nephew of Abou Zur'a; Abdallah ibn Muhammad ibn Ya'qoub; Abd ar-Rahman ibn Khallad ar-Ramahormouzi; Ali ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Abd al-Ansari, one of the transmitters of the "Sunan"; Ali ibn Abd as-Samad Maghama; 'Isa ibn Sulayman al-Bakri.

And al-Fadl ibn al-Abbas ibn Abi ach-Chawarib; and the hafiz Abou Bichr ad-Doulabi.

And Abou Ali Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Lu'lu'i, transmitter of the "Sunan"; Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Ya'qoub al-Mattouthi the Basri, transmitter of his "Book of destiny" from him; Muhammad ibn Bakr ibn Dasa the fruit-seller, among the transmitters of the "Sunan"; Muhammad ibn Ja'far ibn al-Firyabi; Muhammad ibn Khalaf ibn al-Marzban; Muhammad ibn Raja' al-Basri; Abou Salim Muhammad ibn Sa'id al-Adami; Abou Bakr Muhammad ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Hashimi the Meccan; Abou Ousama Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik ar-Rawwas, transmitter of the "Sunan" with gaps; Abou Ubayd Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Uthman al-Ajurri the hafiz; Muhammad ibn Makhlad al-Attar the vehement; Muhammad ibn al-Mundhir Chakkar; Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Mirdas as-Sulami; Abou Bakr Muhammad ibn Yahya as-Souli; Abou Awana Ya'qoub ibn Ishaq al-Isfarayini.

An-Nasa'i reported in his "Sunan" places where he says: Abou Dawoud related to us: Sulayman ibn Harb related to us; and: an-Noufayli related to us; and: Abd al-Aziz ibn Yahya al-Madani related to us; and Ali ibn al-Madini, Amr ibn Awn, Mouslim ibn Ibrahim, Abou al-Walid. The apparent meaning is that Abou Dawoud, in all these places, is the Sijistani, for he is known for transmitting from the Seven. But Abou Dawoud Sulayman ibn Sayf al-Harrani shared with him the transmission from some of them, and an-Nasa'i narrated much from al-Harrani.

An-Nasa'i also reported in the "Book of bynames", from Sulayman ibn al-Asch'ath without naming him by his byname.

The hafiz Ibn Asakir mentioned in "Nablous" that an-Nasa'i narrates from Abou Dawoud the Sijistani.

A group who heard Ibn Tabarzad informed me: Abou al-Badr al-Karkhi informed us: Abou Bakr al-Khatib informed us: Abou Umar al-Hashimi informed us: Abou Ali al-Lu'lu'i informed us: Abou Dawoud informed us: Muhammad ibn Kathir informed us: Ja'far ibn Sulayman informed us, from Awn, from Abou Raja', from Imran ibn Houssayn, who said: a man came to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and said: "Peace be upon you." He answered him, then he sat. The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: "Ten."

Then came another, who said: "Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah." He answered him, and he sat. He said: "Twenty."

Then came another, who said: "Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings." He answered him, he sat, and he said: "Thirty."

Abou al-Husayn Ali ibn Muhammad, I think, and Umar ibn Muhammad al-Farisi, and a group, informed us: Abdallah ibn Umar informed us: Abd al-Awwal ibn 'Isa informed us: Abou al-Hasan ad-Dawoudi informed us: Abdallah ibn Ahmad informed us: 'Isa ibn Umar as-Samarqandi informed us: Abdallah ibn Abd ar-Rahman the hafiz informed us: Muhammad ibn Kathir informed us, and he mentions it in the same vein.

Abou Abd ar-Rahman an-Nasa'i extracted it from Abou Dawoud, from Muhammad ibn Kathir; and Abou Isa extracted it in his "Jami" from the hafiz Abdallah ad-Darimi. We concorded with both of them by an elevated chain.

Abou al-Qasim Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abd al-Halim the jurist informed us, by my reading: Ali ibn Moukhtar informed us: Ahmad ibn Muhammad the hafiz informed us: Abou Bakr Ahmad ibn Ali as-Soufi informed us: Ali ibn Ahmad ar-Razzaz informed us: Ahmad ibn Salman the jurist related to us: Abou Dawoud Sulayman ibn al-Asch'ath related to us, in Bassora: Abou Tawba ar-Rabi' ibn Nafi' related to us: Ubaydallah ibn Amr related to us, from Ayyoub, from Ibn Sirine, from Abou Hourayra:

That the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, "forbad the speculation on goods being driven in. Whoever speculates on them, let him buy them: the owner of the goods has the choice when the market is reached."

This is an authentic, rare hadith; at-Tirmidhi extracted it by the way of Ubaydallah ibn Amr, and it is among his singular hadiths.

We possess several elevated hadiths of Abou Dawoud, and the "Book of the Abrogating" of him.

He resided in Bassora after the destruction of the vile tyrant of the Zandj, and spread knowledge there; he used to go back and forth to Baghdad.

The works of Imam Abu Dawud

Abou Bakr al-Khatib said: "It is said he composed his book the 'Sunan' long ago, and submitted it to Ahmad ibn Hanbal, who sought benefit from it and approved it."

Abou Ubayd said: "I heard Abou Dawoud say: I saw Khalid ibn Khidach but did not hear from him; I did not hear from Youssouf as-Saffar, nor from Ibn al-Isbahani, nor from Amr ibn Hammåd. And hadith is a provision."

Abou Ubayd al-Ajurri said: "Abou Dawoud did not narrate from Ibn al-Himmani, nor from Souwayd, nor from Ibn Kasib, nor from Muhammad ibn Houmayd, nor from Soufyan ibn Waki'."

Abou Bakr ibn Dasa said: "I heard Abou Dawoud say: I wrote from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, five hundred thousand hadiths. I selected from them what this book contains," meaning the book of the "Sunan": "I gathered in it four thousand eight hundred hadiths. I mentioned the authentic, and what resembles it and approaches it. And four hadiths suffice a man for his religion of all that:

The first is his saying, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him: 'Deeds are but by intentions.'

The second: 'It is part of the excellence of a man's Islam to leave what does not concern him.'

The third is his saying: 'The believer is not a believer until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.'

And the fourth: 'The lawful is clear.' And the hadith continues."

Al-Khatib related them: "Abou Bakr Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Ibrahim the reciter of Daynawar related them to me in these very words: I heard Abou al-Husayn Muhammad ibn Abdallah ibn al-Hasan al-Faradi, who heard Ibn Dasa."

His saying "four hadiths suffice a man for his religion": that is inadmissible; the Muslim rather needs a great number of authentic Sunans, along with the Quran.

Abou Bakr al-Khallal said: "Abou Dawoud is the imam, the foremost of his time, a man whom no one preceded in the knowledge of extracting the elevated sciences, and whose insight into their places no one in his time matched; a devout, eminent man. Ahmad ibn Hanbal heard from him a single hadith, which Abou Dawoud used to mention."

I say: it is the hadith of Abou Dawoud, from Muhammad ibn Amr ar-Razi, from Abd ar-Rahman ibn Qays, from Hammåd ibn Salama, from Abou al-Ouchara', from his father: that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was asked about the Umra of Rajab, and he judged it good.

This hadith is strange: Ibn Qays was criticized because of it. What is memorized with Hammåd, with this chain, is the hadith: "There is no sacrifice except from the whole-flanked animal," or the like. Then al-Khallal said: "Ibrahim al-Isbahani ibn Ourma, and Abou Bakr ibn Sadaqa, raised his rank and mentioned him as no man like him in his time was mentioned."

Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Yassine said: "Abou Dawoud was one of the hafiz of Islam for the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, his knowledge, its defects and its chains; in the highest degree of devotion, chastity, uprightness, and piety: a cavalier of hadith."

Abou Bakr Muhammad ibn Ishaq as-Saghani and Ibrahim al-Harbi say: "When Abou Dawoud composed the book of the 'Sunan', hadith became soft to Abou Dawoud, as iron became soft to Dawoud, upon him be peace."

Al-Hakim: "I heard az-Zoubayr ibn Abdallah ibn Moussa: I heard Muhammad ibn Makhlad say: Abou Dawoud reviewed in memorization one hundred thousand hadiths. When he composed the book of the 'Sunan' and read it before the people, his book became for the people of hadith like the Quran itself: they followed it and did not contradict it, and the people of his time acknowledged his memorization and his advancement in it."

The hafiz Moussa ibn Haroun said: "Abou Dawoud was created in this world for hadith, and in the hereafter for Paradise."

Allan ibn Abd as-Samad said: "I heard Abou Dawoud: he was among the cavaliers of hadith."

Abou Hatim ibn Hibban said: "Abou Dawoud is one of the imams of the world in fiqh, knowledge, and memorization, in devotion, piety, and exactness. He collected, composed, and defended the Sunans."

The hafiz Abou Abdallah ibn Manda said: "Those who extracted the collections and distinguished the established from the defective, and the error from the correct, are four: al-Boukhari, Muslim, then Abou Dawoud and an-Nasa'i."

Abou Abdallah al-Hakim said: "Abou Dawoud is the imam of the people of hadith in his era without rival. He heard in Egypt, the Hijaz, Syria, the two Iraks, and Khurasan. He had written in Khurasan before his departure for Iraq, in his land and in Herat; he wrote in Baglan from Qoutayba, and in Rayy from Ibrahim ibn Moussa. His highest chains are: al-Qa'nabi, Mouslim ibn Ibrahim, then he names a group."

He said: "He had written long ago in Nishapur, then travelled with his son Abou Bakr to Khurasan."

Abou Ubayd al-Ajurri related from Abou Dawoud, who said: "I entered Koufa in the year twenty-one. And I saw in Damascus nothing like Abou an-Nadr al-Faradisi. He wept much. I wrote from him in the year two and twenty."

The judge Khalil ibn Ahmad as-Sijzi said: "I heard Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Layth, judge of our land, say: Sahl ibn Abdallah at-Toustari came to Abou Dawoud the Sijistani. It was said: O Abou Dawoud, this is Sahl ibn Abdallah, come to you as a visitor. He welcomed him and seated him. Sahl said: O Abou Dawoud, I have a need with you. He said: and what is it? He said: that you say: I have fulfilled it fully, according to my ability. He said: yes. He said: bring out to me your tongue with which you transmit the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, so that I may kiss it. He brought out his tongue and he kissed it."

Isma'il ibn Muhammad as-Saffar related, from as-Saghani, who said: "Hadith became soft to Abou Dawoud the Sijistani, as iron became soft to Dawoud."

Moussa ibn Haroun said: "I have seen nothing more virtuous than Abou Dawoud."

Ibn Dasa said: "I heard Abou Dawoud say: I mentioned in the 'Sunan' the authentic and what approaches it; if there is in it a strong weakness, I made it clear."

What the scholars said of Imam Abu Dawud

I say: he fulfilled, may Allah have mercy on him, that according to his effort; he clarified what had strong, intolerable weakness, and he crossed swords with what had light, bearable weakness. It does not follow, in this state, from his silence about a hadith that it be judged good in his eyes, especially when we apply the bounds of the judgment "good" according to our modern-born convention, which, in the usage of the early generations, reverts to a category of the authentic, the one that must be acted upon according to the majority of the scholars; or the one from which Abou Abdallah al-Boukhari turned away and which Mouslim defended; or the reverse. It is then in the lowest ranks of soundness: were it to descend below that, it would exit the field of proof, and remain balanced between weakness and beauty. The book of Abou Dawoud has as its highest degree of establishment what the two sheikhs extracted, and that is about half the book; then follows what one of the two sheikhs extracted and the other turned away from.

Then follows what they both turned away from; then what they both turned away from, and its chain was good, free of defect and deviation; then follows what had a sound chain which the scholars accepted because it came from two soft ways and beyond, each chain of them supporting the other; then follows what had its chain weakened by the deficiency of its narrator's memory: this Abou Dawoud defends and remains mostly silent about; then follows what was clearly weak on the part of its narrator: this he does not stay silent about, but declares weak mostly; at times he stays silent about it in proportion to its fame and strangeness. And Allah knows best.

The hafiz Zakariyya as-Saji said: "The Book of Allah is the foundation of Islam, and the book of Abou Dawoud is the covenant of Islam."

I say: Abou Dawoud, along with his imamate in hadith and its branches, was among the great jurists: his book attests to that. He was among the nobles of the disciples of the imam Ahmad: he attended his circle for a time and asked him about the subtle points of the questions, in the ramifications and the principles.

He followed the doctrine of the early generations: following the Sunna, submitting to it, and leaving aside venturing into the narrows of dialectic.

Al-A'mach related, from Ibrahim, from Alqama, who said: "Abdallah ibn Mas'oud was likened to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, in his guidance and his direction." And Alqama was likened to Abdallah in that.

Jarir ibn Abd al-Hamid said: "Ibrahim an-Nakha'i was likened to Alqama in that; and Mansour was likened to Ibrahim."

It is said: "Soufyan ath-Thawri was likened to Mansour; Waki' was likened to Soufyan; Ahmad was likened to Waki'; and Abou Dawoud was likened to Ahmad."

Al-Khattabi said: Abdallah ibn Muhammad al-Miski related to me: Abou Bakr ibn Jabir, servant of Abou Dawoud, may Allah have mercy on him, related to me: "I was with Abou Dawoud in Baghdad. We prayed the maghreb, and the emir Abou Ahmad al-Mouwaffaq, meaning the heir apparent, came to him and entered. Abou Dawoud turned to him and said: what has brought the emir at a time like this?"

"He said: three requests. He said: and what are they? He said: you move to Bassora and take it as residence, so that the students of knowledge may migrate to you and it be revived by you: for it has been ravaged, and the people turned away from it because of the tribulation of the Zandj that befell it."

He said: "That is one."

He said: "And you transmit the 'Sunan' to my children."

He said: "Yes. Give the third."

He said: "And you reserve for them a distinct session, for the sons of the caliphs do not sit with the common people."

He said: "As for this, there is no way to it, for the people are equal in knowledge."

Ibn Jabir said: "So they would attend and sit in a wide basket of reeds, covered with a screen, and listen with the common people."

Ibn Dasa said: "Abou Dawoud had a wide box and a narrow box. He was asked about that, and he said: the wide one is for the books; the other is not needed."

Abou Bakr ibn Abi Dawoud said: "I heard my father say: the best of speech is what enters the ear without permission."

Abou Ubayd al-Ajurri said: "I heard Abou Dawoud say: al-Layth narrated from az-Zouhri, and he narrated from four: he narrated from az-Zouhri, from Khalid ibn Yazid, from Sa'id ibn Abi Hilal, from Ibrahim ibn Sa'd, and from Salih ibn Kaysan, from az-Zouhri."

And I heard Abou Dawoud say: "Oumayr ibn Hani' was a fatalist: he glorified a hundred thousand glorifications every day. He was slain with patience at Darayya in the days of Yazid ibn al-Walid, and he had been inciting against him."

Abou Dawoud said: "Mouslima ibn Muhammad related to us from him Mousaddad." Abou Ubayd said: "I said to Abou Dawoud: he narrated from Hicham ibn Ourwa, from his father, from 'Aicha: 'Beware of the Blacks, for they are a deformed creation.' He said: whoever relates this, accuse him."

Abou Dawoud said: "Younous ibn Boukayr is not for me a proof. He and al-Bakkai heard from Ibn Ishaq in Rayy."

Al-Hakim said: "Sulayman ibn al-Asch'ath the Sijistani: his birth is in Sijistan, and he has, as have his ancestors until now, bonds, estates, and endowments in it. He departed from it in quest of hadith to Bassora, dwelt there, and made many auditions there from Sulayman ibn Harb, Abou an-Nu'man, and Abou al-Walid. Then he entered Syria and Egypt, returned to Iraq, then travelled with his son Abou Bakr to the remaining sheikhs. He came to Nishapur and had his son hear from Ishaq ibn Mansour. Then he went out to Sijistan."

"He there met his kin, then returned to Bassora and settled in it."

Muhammad ibn Abdallah the ascetic of Isfahan related to us: Abou Bakr ibn Abi Dawoud related to us: my father related to us: Muhammad ibn Amr ar-Razi related to us: Abd ar-Rahman ibn Qays related to us: Hammåd ibn Salama related to us, from Abou al-Ouchara' ad-Darimi, from his father:

"The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was asked about the Umra of Rajab, and he judged it good."

It is said: Ahmad wrote from Abou of this latter. I mentioned it to Ahmad and he said: yes.

I say: and how was that? He said: "We mentioned one day the hadiths of Abou al-Ouchara'. Ahmad said: I know for him only three hadiths, and only Hammåd narrated from him the hadith of the complete-flanked female, and the hadith: I saw upon the head of Abou al-Ouchara' a turban." I mentioned this to Ahmad, and he said: "Dictate it to me."

Then he said: "Muhammad ibn Abi Samina has a rare hadith with Abou Dawoud." He questioned me, and Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Abi Samina wrote it from me.

Al-Hakim said: Abou Hatim ibn Hibban informed us: "I heard the son of Abou Dawoud: I heard my father say: I reached among the people of hadith those I reached: none of them was a greater memorizer of hadith, nor a greater collector of it, than Ibn Ma'in; nor more devout, nor more knowing of the fiqh of hadith, than Ahmad; and the most knowing of them of its defects is Ali ibn al-Madini. And I saw Ishaq, with his memorization and knowledge, prefer Ahmad ibn Hanbal and acknowledge that to him."

Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Manda related to me: Abd al-Karim ibn an-Nasa'i related to me: my father related to me: Abou Dawoud Sulayman ibn al-Asch'ath related to us, in Bassora:

"az-Zouhri heard from thirteen men, among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him: Anas; Sahl; as-Sa'ib; Sounayn Abi Joumayla; Mahmoud ibn ar-Rabi'; a man of Bali; Ibn Abi Sou'ayr; Abou Oumama ibn Sahl."

"It was said: Ibn Umar? He said: I saw Ibn Umar pour water on his face to refresh it."

"It was said: Ibrahim ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf mentioned the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, on the day he was taken; and Abd ar-Rahman ibn Azhar."

Abou al-Husayn Ali ibn Muhammad informed us, and Isma'il ibn Abd ar-Rahman, and Muhammad ibn Bayan, by my reading: al-Hasan ibn as-Sabbah informed us: Abdallah ibn Rifaa informed us: Ali ibn al-Hasan the judge informed us: Abd ar-Rahman ibn Umar an-Nahhas informed us:

Abou Sa'id Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-A'rabi related to us: Abou Dawoud Sulayman ibn Harb and Mousaddad related to us, both saying:

Hammåd related to us, from Thabit, from Abou Bourda, from al-Agharr, who had the company of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and who said: the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: "Oppression presses upon my heart, and I seek the forgiveness of Allah a hundred times in the day."

Muslim extracted it also from this hadith of Hammåd, who is Ibn Zayd; and Muslim extracted it from the hadith of Amr ibn Mourra, from Abou Bourda, from al-Agharr ibn Yassar al-Mouzani; it is said: al-Jouhani. And I do not know that he narrated anything other than this hadith.

Abou Sa'id ath-Thaghri informed us: Abd al-Latif ibn Youssouf informed us: Abd al-Haqq informed us: Ali ibn Muhammad informed us: Abou al-Hasan al-Hammami informed us: Ibn Qani' informed us: Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Abi ach-Chawarib related to us: Abou al-Walid related to us: Chou'ba said:

Amr ibn Mourra informed me, saying:

I heard Abou Bourda relate from a man of Jouhayna called al-Agharr, who was of the Companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, that he heard the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, say: "O people! Turn in repentance to your Lord, for I turn in repentance to Allah a hundred times a day."

Abou Dawoud said in his "Sunan": "I grafted a cucumber in Egypt: it had thirteen internodes. And I saw a citron upon a camel, cut in two halves, prepared like two pomegranates."

As for Sijistan, the region from which the imam Abou Dawoud comes: it is a small, distinct region, adjacent to the region of Sind; to its west is the land of Herat; to its south, a desert between it and the region of Persia and Kerman; to its east, a desert and a steppe between it and Makran which is the base of Sind; and the whole of this eastern limit is the land of Multan; to its north, the beginning of India.