Among those who narrated from him were ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Azajī and a number of others.

Al-Khaṭīb said: “Al-ʿAtīqī and al-Azharī told me that he was tireless in worship.” Abū Ṭāhir al-ʿAllāf told me: “Abū Ṭālib once preached in Baghdad, but his words became confused, and it was recorded from him that he said: ‘None is more harmful to the created beings than the Creator.’ Because of that they branded him an innovator and avoided him (1).”

Another reported: “He often kept himself hungry, met with spiritual masters, and when he entered Basra after the death of Abū al-Ḥasan ibn Sālim he adopted his doctrine.”

Abū al-Qāsim ibn Bishrān said: “I visited our shaykh Abū Ṭālib, and he told me, ‘If you learn that a good end has been decreed for me, scatter sugar and almonds over my bier and say, “This is the ḥādhq (confection).” When I am at the point of death, take my hand; if I clasp your hand, know that a good end has been decreed for me.’ I remained with him, and when his death approached he gripped my hand tightly, so I scattered sugar and almonds over his bier.”

Abū Ṭālib subjected himself to strenuous disciplines and prolonged fasting; he even abandoned ordinary food and lived on wild greens until his skin turned green (2).

I have seen, in Abū Ṭālib’s own handwriting, a collection of forty hadiths. In it he transmits by ijāza (formal licence) from ʿAbd Allah ibn Jaʿfar ibn Fāris al-Isfahānī, and it also contains narrations from Abū Zayd al-Marwazī drawn from Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī. The first reads: “All praise is due to Allah, to the full extent of His praise, by virtue of His praise.” He is also the author of the well-known book Qūt al-Qulūb (The Nourishment of Hearts).

He died in Jumādā al-Ākhira, 386 AH.