He transmitted ḥadith from Abū Khalīfa al-Jumaḥī, al-Ḥasan ibn Sufyān, Abū Yaʿlā al-Mawṣilī, Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Sarrāj, Abū al-Qāsim al-Baghawī, al-Qāsim al-Maṭraz, Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Qutayba al-ʿAsqalānī, ʿUmar ibn Sinān al-Manbijī, and others of their rank.

Al-Khaṭīb said, “He was reliable and firmly grounded; he authored several books. Abū Bakr al-Barqānī and Abū al-ʿAlāʾ al-Wāsiṭī narrated from him, and he resided in Baghdad.”(1)

Al-Ḥākim added, “He was one of the pillars of hadith.”(2)

Al-Barqānī further remarked, “He was a traditionist devoted to asceticism, taking little from this world. He would not relate hadith to more than one person at a time. When asked about that he said, ‘Students of hadith often lack proper manners; when they gather to listen, they begin chatting, and I cannot put up with that.’” Al-Barqānī then described other aspects of his renunciation and frugality. He once offered him some dry crusts, whereupon al-Ābandūnī said, “Let the bāqallānī sprinkle a little broad-bean broth over them.” Two beans happened to fall onto the crust, so he removed them and said, “This shaykh gives me one dāniq each month so that I can moisten these scraps.”(3)

I say: Those who narrated from him include his companion Abū Bakr al-Ismāʿīlī, Abū Bakr ibn Shāh al-Marwazī, and the ḥāfiẓ Abū Nuʿaym.

Al-Ḥākim also reported that al-Ābandūnī travelled to Baghdad in 350 AH.