Name, Lineage, and Background
Al-Layth ibn Saʿd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, Abū al-Ḥārith al-Fahmī, was the imām, ḥāfiẓ, and chief scholar of Egypt. He was a mawlā of Khālid ibn Thābit ibn Ẓāʿin. Some of his relatives claimed they were of Persian origin from Iṣfahān, which does not contradict his status as a client of the Fahm tribe.
Birth and Early Life
He was born in the village of Qarqashandah, in Lower Egypt, in Shaʿbān of the year 94 AH, according to Yaḥyā ibn Bukayr. Saʿīd ibn Abī Maryam said it was 93 AH, but the first is more correct, as al-Layth himself said so. He performed ḥajj in the year 113 AH.
Narrations
He heard hadith from ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ, Ibn Abī Mulaykah, Nāfiʿ al-ʿUmrī, Saʿīd ibn Abī Saʿīd al-Maqburī, Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī, Abū al-Zubayr al-Makkī, Musharraḥ ibn Māʿān, Abū Qubayl al-Maʿāfirī, Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb, Jaʿfar ibn Rabīʿah, ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar, Bukayr ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ashajj, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Qāsim, al-Ḥārith ibn Yaʿqūb, Darrāj Abū al-Samaḥ, ʿAqīl ibn Khālid, Yūnus ibn Yazīd, Ḥakīm ibn ʿAbd Allāh aibn Qays, ʿĀmir ibn Yaḥyā al-Maʿāfirī, ʿUmar Mawlā Ghufrah, ʿImrān ibn Abī Anas, ʿAyāsh ibn ʿAbbās, Kathīr ibn Farqad, Hishām ibn ʿUrwah, ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Ḥusayn, Ayyūb ibn Mūsā, Bakr ibn Sawādah, Abū Kathīr al-Jallāḥ, al-Ḥārith ibn Yazīd al-Ḥaḍramī, Khālid ibn Yazīd, Ṣafwān ibn Sulaym, Khayr ibn Naʿīm, Abū al-Zinād, Qatādah, Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Ḥibbān, Yazīd ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Hād, Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Anṣārī, and many others. He narrated from some of his students and narrated from Nāfiʿ and al-Zuhrī in isnāds with multiple narrators between them.
Those Who Narrated From Him
A great number narrated from him, including Ibn ʿAjlān, Ibn Luhayʿah, Hushaym, Ibn Wahb, Ibn al-Mubārak, ʿAṭṭāf ibn Khālid, Shabābah, Ashhab, Saʿīd ibn Shurayḥ, Saʿīd ibn ʿUfayr, al-Qaʿnabī, Ḥujayn ibn al-Muthannā, Saʿīd ibn Abī Maryam, Ādam ibn Abī Iyās, Aḥmad ibn Yūnus, his son Shuʿayb ibn al-Layth, Yaḥyā ibn Bukayr, ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam, Manṣūr ibn Salamah, Yūnus ibn Muḥammad, Abū al-Naḍr Hāshim ibn al-Qāsim, Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā al-Laythī, Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā al-Tamīmī, Abū al-Jahm al-ʿAlāʾ ibn Mūsā, Qutaybah ibn Saʿīd, Muḥammad ibn Rumḥ, Yazīd ibn Muhibb al-Ramlī, Kāmil ibn Ṭalḥah, ʿĪsā ibn Ḥammād Zughbah, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Kātib, ʿAmr ibn Khālid, and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūsuf al-Tanīsī. Al-Ḥārith ibn Miskīn met him and asked him a question, and Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm al-Dawraqī saw him in Baghdad as a child.
Select Chains and High Isnāds
Al-Layth narrated from Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb from Saʿd ibn Sinān from Anas a ḥadīth about end-times tribulations, which was narrated with high isnād by al-Tirmidhī. He also narrated from Hishām ibn ʿUrwah by ijāzah, a ḥadīth about Zayd ibn ʿAmr ibn Nufayl standing at the Kaʿbah, which al-Bukhārī mentioned in his Ṣaḥīḥ as a written report.
He narrated from Saʿīd al-Maqburī from his father from Abū Hurayrah about the tree in Paradise whose shade a rider could travel under for one hundred years.
He also narrated from Nāfiʿ that Ibn ʿUmar said: “I do not know any shirk worse than a woman saying her lord is ʿĪsā,” which al-Bukhārī recorded.
He narrated the ḥadīth of the Prophet’s dream about drawing water from the well, then Abū Bakr after him, then ʿUmar who drew so powerfully that no one could equal him. This was narrated also by Muslim and al-Bukhārī.
He narrated from Ibn Shihāb through various paths, including about the verse: “And if you fear not being just with the orphans…” (al-Nisāʾ: 3). He also narrated unique ḥadīths, including about the Koṯhar river and about Ibn ʿUmar counting on his fingers between sujūd.
His Status and Authority in Egypt
He was the chief scholar, jurist, and muḥaddith of Egypt. Even the governor, the judge, and the administrator of Egypt operated under his guidance. Al-Manṣūr offered him the position of overseeing the province but he declined. He narrated the famous ḥadīth from al-Zuhrī through Anas: “Whoever lies about me deliberately, let him take his seat in the Fire,” which Abū ʿĪsā declared authentic and rare.
Character and Manners
He lived in a time when innovation was dormant and the Sunnah was strong. He was upright, generous, avoided disputes, and never argued with people of desire. He travelled in search of knowledge and avoided praise. When Harūn al-Rashīd asked for a religious answer, al-Layth quoted the verse: “For the one who fears standing before his Lord, there are two gardens” (al-Raḥmān: 46), and received numerous gifts in return.
His students and later scholars said no one in Egypt equalled him. Yaḥyā ibn Bukayr and Saʿīd ibn Abī Maryam both said he died on a Friday night, the 15th of Shaʿbān, 175 AH. Mūsā ibn ʿĪsā led the prayer. His funeral was so massive that people thought he was the relative of every single mourner.
He was known for his regular recitation, love for knowledge, and precise understanding. Ibn Ḥanbal, Abū Dāwūd, and other imams confirmed that no one in Egypt had stronger ḥadīths than al-Layth. He was firm in narrating from Saʿīd al-Maqburī and precise in distinguishing what was from Abū Hurayrah and what was from his son.
Generosity and Wealth
He used to earn between 20,000 and 25,000 dīnārs a year, and yet would end the year in debt due to his generosity. He would give 1,000 dīnārs to Ibn Luhayʿah, to Mālik, to Manṣūr ibn ʿAmmār, and to others. He once gave a woman over 120 pounds of honey when her child was ill. He regularly fed hundreds of people and spent in charity daily. He would not eat alone and was known for his hospitality.
Even when he declined a gift, he would ensure it reached other students of hadith. When his books were burned, al-Layth replaced them for him. He donated freely to imams, scholars, and the poor.
His Judgment and Worship
He held multiple sessions daily—for the governor’s affairs, for hadith, for legal questions, and for the needs of the people. He supported reform and advised rulers directly. He rejected state appointments and recommended qualified replacements. His personal prayer, Qurʾān recitation, and teaching were constant. He would pray while travelling and lead the prayer himself. He once served as a judge and was praised for justice.
Statements About Him
Imām Mālik said that al-Layth had precedence in Egypt. Al-Shāfiʿī said he was more knowledgeable than Mālik, but his students did not preserve his knowledge. Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal said he was trustworthy and sound. Ibn Maʿīn preferred him over Ibn Isḥāq. Al-Fasawī said he was more eloquent than anyone in Egypt.
He knew the Qurʾān and Arabic grammar, memorised hadith and poetry, and had excellence in many fields. Some said if Mālik and al-Layth were together, Mālik would be silent and al-Layth would outdo him. Al-Layth used to say, “Not everything in my chest is in my books; if I were to write it all down, it would fill a ship.”
End of His Life
He was seen correcting people gently, aiding the poor in secret, and being humbled when praised. He died at the age of 81, and was buried amidst tears, mourning, and widespread grief. He was one of the greatest jurists of his time and a firm defender of the Sunnah.
Siyar A‘lām al-Nubalā’ by Ad Dhahabi (8/136-163)
