in both knowledge and practice.

Abu al-Fath ibn Abi al-Fawaris said: “He was absolutely reliable and ascetic; we never saw anyone like him.” (1)

Al-Hakim added: “He stood unmatched in his age for the science of the people of spiritual realities, and he held a solid position in hadith expertise. He came to Nishapur, then entered Samarkand where he remained, and there he compiled al-Musnad al-Kabir arranged by narrator. After that he left for Mecca in 368 AH and settled in its vicinity.”

Ibn Abi al-Fawaris also said: “Abu Muslim produced many writings.” (2)

Al-Khatib remarked: “He gathered the hadiths of the masters and the various topical chapters; he was precise, a memoriser, and was marked by piety, asceticism, and devoutness.”

Abu al-ʿAlaʾ al-Wasiti once mentioned him to me at length, praising him and saying: “Al-Daraqutni and the senior scholars held him in great esteem.” (3)

Al-Hakim said: “I entered Marw and the lands beyond the Oxus but could not find him.

“In 365 AH, during the pilgrimage season, I sought him among the caravans, yet he concealed himself. I performed Hajj again in 367 AH, thinking he was in Mecca, but they told me, ‘He is in Baghdad.’ This saddened me, and I continued searching for him. Then Abu Nasr al-Malāhimi in Baghdad said to me, ‘There is here a shaykh from the abdal—would you like to see him?’ I said, ‘Indeed.’ He took me, brought me into the Dyers’ Caravanserai, and they said, ‘He has gone out.’ Abu Nasr then said, ‘Sit in this mosque, for he will come.’ So we sat down, and Abu Nasr had not told me who the shaykh was. Presently Abu Nasr returned with a thin, frail shaykh wrapped in a cloak. He greeted me, and I was inspired to realise that he was Abu Muslim the ḥāfiẓ. While we were conversing I asked him, ‘Has the shaykh found any of his relatives here?’ He replied, ‘Those whom I wished to meet have all passed away.’ So I said to him, ‘Did he leave…’