Hafiz Abu Zur'a shi ne babban malami kuma fitaccen imami a ilimin tarihin rayuwar masu ruwaito hadisi [asma'ul-rijal]. Ibn Abi Hatim ya ruwaito wannan labari game da shi:

Hafiz Abñ Zur‘a was a famous imam and a distinguished scholar in the science of the biographies of narrators [asma’ al-rijjal]. Ibn Abõ ûótim has narrated this story about him:

Sau ɗaya Ibn Wara, wanda sunansa Muḥammad ɗan Muslim, da Fadl ɗan ‘Abbas, wanda laƙabinsa Fadluk al-Saigh, suka zo wajen Hafiz Abū Zur‘a. Dukansu suka fara jayayya game da wani hukuncin Shari‘a. Ibn Wara ya faɗi wani Hadīth don goyon bayan ra’ayinsa, amma Fadluk ya ƙi karɓar Hadīth ɗin, ya kuma dage cewa ba haka lafazin Hadīth ɗin yake ba daidai ba. Ibn Wara ya tambaya, “To, mene ne ainihin kalmomin wannan Hadīth ɗin?”.

Once Ibn Wara, whose name was Muúammud ibn Muslim, and Fadl ibn ‘Abbas, whose nickname was Fadluk al-Saigh, came to Hafiz Abñ Zur‘a. Both of them began to argue about some Shari‘a ruling. Ibn Wara quoted a Hadīth to support his position, but Fadluk rejected the Hadīth and insisted that it was not the correct wording of the Hadīth. Ibn Wara asked, “Then what are the proper words of this Hadīth?”.

Fadluk ya faɗi hadisin yadda ya ga cewa shi ne daidai. Yayin da muhawarar ta ci gaba, Abū Zur‘a yana sauraro cikin natsuwa. Sai Ibn Wara ya juya ga Abū Zur‘a ya tambaye shi, “Menene ainihin kalmomin hadisin?”.

Fadluk quoted the Hadīth in the way he thought was correct. As the debate continued, Abñ Zur‘a quietly listened. Ibn Wara then turned to Abñ Zur‘a and asked, “What are the actual words of the Hadīth?”.

Abū Zur‘a ya ƙi amsa, amma sa’ad da Ibn Wāra ya matsa masa, sai Abū Zur‘a ya ce, “Je ka kira ɗan’uwana, Abū al-Qāsim.”

Abñ Zur‘a avoided answering, but when Ibn Wara insisted Abñ Zur‘a said, “Go call my nephew, Abñ al-Qósim.”.

Lokacin da Abu al-Qasim ya isa, Hafiz Abu Zur'a ya ce masa, "Je ɗakin littattafai, ka bar ɗakin farko, na biyu da na uku. A ɗakin da ke bayansu, za ka sami wani juzu'i na littattafai. Kada ka ɗauki wani sai juzu'i na goma sha bakwai, ka kawo mini shi."

When Abñ al-Qósim arrived, ûófiþ Abñ Zur‘a said to him, “Go to the library, leave the first, second and third shelf. In the shelf after, you will find a volume of books. Do not pick any other except the seventeenth volume and bring it to me.”.

Abū al-Qāsim ya tafi ya dawo da littafin. Ḥāfiẓ Abū Zur‘a ya juya shafukan har ya kai ga shafin da aka rubuta hadīthin a kansa. Ya miƙa buɗaɗɗen littafin ga Ibn Wara. Ibn Wara ya karanta hadīthin, sannan ya amince da kuskurensa.

Abñ al-Qósim went and returned with the book. ûófiþ Abñ Zur‘a flipped through the pages until he reached the page on which the úadīth was written. He handed the open book over to Ibn Wara. Ibn Wóra read through the úadīth and then acknowledged his mistake.

Bayan wannan lamari, ya kamata mu yi tunani a kan maganar Abū Zur‘a, wadda Ibn Ḥajar ya ruwaito daga Abū Ja‘far Ṭastarī a cikin littafinsa al-Tahdhīb. Abū Zur‘a ya ce: "Shekara hamsin sun wuce tun da na rubuta hadisai, dukkan littattafai kuwa suna cikin gidana. Tun lokacin da na rubuta su, ban sake karanta waɗannan hadisai ba, amma na san wane hadisi yana cikin wane littafi, a wane shafi da kuma a wane layi."11

After this incident, we should contemplate the claim of Abñ Zur‘a, which has been narrated by Ibn ûajar with reference from Abñ Ja‘far Tastarõ in his book al-Tahþõb. Abñ Zur‘a claimed, “Fifty years have passed since I have written aúódõth, and all the books are in my house. From the time I wrote them, I have never read those aúódõth, but I know which Hadīth is in what book, on what page and on what line.”11

Haka kuma, Imam Sha‘ba ya ce, "Ban taɓa rubuta alkalami a takarda ba [watau ban taɓa rubuta Hadisai ba], kuma ban taɓa buƙatar mai ruwaito Hadisi ya maimaita mini shi ba saboda na manta da shi."12

Similarly, Imam Sha‘ba says, “I have never put pen to paper [i.e. never wrote Ahadith] and never did I have to request a narrator to repeat a Hadith because I have forgotten it.”12

Akwai abubuwa da dama irin wannan, har ta kai ba za a iya ba su labari gaba ɗaya ba sai an rubuta wani littafin. Waɗannan ƴan lamuran da aka ambata, duk da haka, sun isa su nuna girman ƙwaƙwalwar waɗannan malamai.

There are numerous incidents of this kind, so many in fact that it would take perhaps another book to attempt to narrate them all. These few incidents which have been mentioned; however, should suffice to gauge the extraordinary memories of these scholars.

Rushaid ibn Isma'il wani abokin karatun Imam Bukhari ne. Shi da kansa ya shaida lamarin da ke gaba. Ya ba da labari:

ûóshid ibn Ismó’õl was a classmate of Imam Bukhórõ. He himself was an eyewitness to the following incident. He narrates:

Imam Bukhari yana karami yaro lokacin da ya zo azuwarmu don koyon aḥádíth tare da mu. Gabaɗaya, ɗalibai suna rubuta aḥádíth ɗin malami yayin da yake ruwaito su. Sai dai mun lura da Imam Bukhórõ yana zaune cikin nutsuwa, yana sauraron malamin ba tare da ya rubuta komai ba. Na 'yan kwanaki muka kalli wannan cikin shiru, amma da ya ci gaba da yin haka, sai muka fara masa tsawa, muna cewa yana ɓatar da lokaci a cikin aji kuma baya rubuta komai. Imam Bukhórõ ya yi watsi da waɗannan korafe-korafen, kuma bai mayar da martani ba.

Imam Bukhari was still a young boy when he came to our class to learn aúódõth with us. Generally, students noted down the aúódõth of the teacher as he narrated them. However, we would notice Imam Bukhórõ sitting quietly, listening to the teacher without writing anything down. For some days we observed this with silence, but when he continued to behave in this manner, we started to chide him for wasting time in the class and not writing anything down. Imam Bukhórõ ignored these objections and did not rebut them.

Wata rana, mutane sun yi masa wa'azi fiye da kima, sai ya fusata. Ya ce, "Me kuke so ku ce? Ku je ku kawo littattafanku, ku zauna a kewaye da ni, ni kuma zan faɗi duk abin da kuka rubuta daga zuciya."

One day, people lectured him too much, and he became angry. He said, “What are you trying to say? Go bring your notes, sit here around me and I will, by memory, say everything you have written.”.

Shid ya ƙarshe ya yarda, "Ya karanta hadísai sama da dubu goma sha biyar daga zuciya."

ûóshid finally admits, “He recited over fifteen thousand aúódõth from memory.”