679 - He said: And Muhammad ibn Makhlad ibn Hafs al-'Attar informed me, saying: Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna told me, saying: Nuh ibn Yazid ibn Sayyar Abu Muhammad al-Mu'addib told us, and he [the narrator] asked Ahmad ibn Hanbal about him [Nuh], so he said: "Write from him, for he was the tutor of Ibrahim ibn Sa'd and performed Hajj with him." He said: Ibrahim ibn Sa'd told us, from Muhammad ibn Ishaq, from Nafi', from 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar, who said: I asked, "Was he more 'aswad' than Abu Bakr?" He replied: "Abu Bakr is better than him, yet he was more 'aswad' than Abu Bakr." I asked: "Was he more 'aswad' than 'Umar?" He replied: "'Umar was better than him, yet he, by Allah, was more 'aswad' than 'Umar." I asked: "Was he more 'aswad' than 'Uthman?" He replied: "By Allah, 'Uthman was indeed a master, and Mu'awiyah, by Allah, was more 'aswad' than him." He said: I asked Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal and said: "O Abu 'Abdullah, what is the meaning of 'aswad'?" He replied: "The 'aswad' is the generous one. The master is the forbearing one, and the master is the giver. Mu'awiyah gave the people of Medina gifts that no caliph before him had given."