He also said: He was trusted by the governors and leading figures and was entrusted with weighty affairs. Costly merchandise came to him from every direction, yet he was scrupulously pious in all his dealings and enjoyed great standing. He was appointed supervisor of the congregational mosque and restored it.

He had memorized the Qur’an and was well-versed in hadith, history, transmitter criticism, and jurisprudence, while keeping himself from issuing legal opinions.

A man once came to him and said, “I have sworn that if I marry so-and-so, she will be divorced three times.” He replied, “According to Mālik and Abū Ḥanīfa, the divorce takes effect; according to al-Shāfiʿī, it does not.” The questioner then asked, “What is your own view?” He answered, “That should be presented to Abū Bakr al-Furātī,” and he issued no ruling himself.

While in Manṣūra—the chief city of Khwārazm—he heard a portion of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī from al-Firabrī. Finding him lodging there, he compiled a Mustakhraj on that work, following its pattern. He also authored a book on the hadiths found in al-Muzanī’s Mukhtaṣar.

Whenever a hadith was sound in his judgment he would act upon it, paying no heed to any particular school. He both memorized and understood the hadiths he transmitted.

He was beloved of the people, who sought blessing through him; his word carried authority, and they advanced him to lead them in the prayer for rain.

He held a dictation session every Monday and Thursday, attended by imams and dignitaries, and he maintained that the basmalah should be recited aloud.

Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Muʿaddil informed us; Abū Muḥammad ibn Qudāmah told us; Abū al-Fatḥ ibn al-Baṭṭī told us; Abū al-Faḍl ibn Khayrūn told us; Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Barqānī told us: “It was read before Abū al-ʿAbbās ibn Ḥamdān—while I was listening—in Jumādā al-Ūlā of the year 353 AH: ‘Muḥammad ibn Ayyūb narrated to you; Abū al-Walīd informed us; Isḥāq ibn Saʿīd ibn ʿAmr ibn Saʿīd narrated to us; my father narrated to me…’”