أَلَا تَرَى أَنَّكَ إِذَا وَازَنْتَ هَؤُلَاءِ الثَّلَاثَةَ الَّذِينَ سَمَّيْنَاهُمْ عَطَاءً وَيَزِيدَ وَلَيْثًا بِمَنْصُورِ بْنِ الْمُعْتَمِرِ وَسُلَيْمَانَ الْأَعْمَشِ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ بْنِ أَبِي خَالِدٍ فِي إِتْقَانِ الْحَدِيثِ وَالِاسْتِقَامَةِ فِيهِ وَجَدْتَهُمْ مُبَايِنِينَ لَهُمْ لَا يُدَانُونَهُمْ
Translation: Compare ʿAṭāʾ, Yazīd, and Layth with Manṣūr b. al-Muʿtamir, Sulaymān al-Aʿmash, and Ismāʿīl b. Abī Khālid in hadith precision and consistency: their respective standings are markedly different.
The comparison is controlled by a specific criterion—reliability of preservation and transmission—not simply by personal integrity or involvement in scholarship.