He passed away in 384 AH, having attained an advanced age.
We have already met his namesake, the great ḥāfiẓ Abū Bishr Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥammād ibn Saʿīd al-Anṣārī al-Dūlābī (1), under the year 310 AH.
325 – Ibn Gharīb, Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Gharīb al-Baghdādī *
The shaykh, scholar, and reliable authority: Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Gharīb ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Baghdādī, a protégé of the Qur’an master Ibn Mujāhid.
He heard Suwayd’s recension of the Muwaṭṭaʾ from Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Jaʿd al-Washshāʾ, and also received ḥadith from Jaʿfar al-Firyābī and ʿAlī ibn Ḥammād al-Khashshāb.
Among those who narrated from him were al-Barqānī, Abū al-ʿAlāʾ al-Wāsiṭī, and ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm al-Faqīh.
Al-Barqānī declared him trustworthy.
We ourselves heard the Muwaṭṭaʾ through his transmission.
326 – Ibn Zabr, Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad al-Rabaʿī **
The shaykh, scholar, and ḥāfiẓ: Abū Sulaymān Muḥammad, son of the judge ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Rabīʿah ibn Zabr al-Rabaʿī, the traditionist of Damascus and the son of its judge Abū Muḥammad.