(1) Al-Hākim said of Imam al-Ismā‘īlī: “Al-Ismā‘īlī was unrivalled in his age, the foremost scholar among hadith scholars and jurists, and the most distinguished of them in leadership, noble character, and generosity” (Siyar A‘lām al-Nubalā’, 16/294). Al-Sam‘ānī said of him: “The imam of the people of Jurjān and their authority in hadith and jurisprudence … He is too renowned to need introduction” (Al-Ansāb, 1/139). Al-Dhahabī described him as “the imam, hadith master, jurist, and Shaykh al-Islām” (Siyar A‘lām al-Nubalā’, 16/292), and elsewhere as “the imam, hadith master, thoroughly reliable scholar, and Shaykh al-Islām” (Tadhkirat al-Huffāz, 3/947). Al-Safadī described him as “the imam … Shāfi‘ī jurist and hadith master” (Al-Wāfī bi-l-Wafayāt, 6/213). Al-Anābākī said of him: “The hadith master … He was an imam who travelled throughout the lands and met the scholarly authorities” (Al-Nujūm al-Zāhira, 4/140). Ibn Kathīr said of him: “The great hadith master and tireless traveller, who heard a vast number of hadiths, transmitted them, compiled hadith collections, and authored works, benefiting others and excelling in his work; his critical judgment and creed were sound” (Al-Bidāya wa-l-Nihāya, 11/317). Ibn ‘Abd al-Hādī described him as “the imam and great hadith master, one of the eminent imams … the leading Shāfi‘ī scholar in his region” (Tabaqāt ‘Ulamā’ al-Hadīth, 3/140). Ibn Nāsir al-Dīn said of him: “The imam … one of the distinguished hadith masters, he was the foremost scholar among hadith scholars and jurists, and the most distinguished of them in noble character and generosity” (Shadharāt al-Dhahab, 3/72).