Abu Sulayman, the commentator on Abu Dawud’s Sunan. If a fair-minded reader studies his works and takes note of the exceptional skill with which he handles his material, he will be certain of the man’s leadership in scholarship, his piety, and his trustworthiness in the reports he relates. Abu Sulayman travelled far and wide in pursuit of hadith and other sciences, moving from region to region; afterwards he authored books in many disciplines, producing a large body of writings. Both his teachers and his compositions are numerous. Among the latter is the Commentary on the Sunan, which we have resolved to begin dictating and delivering, and his book on the singular expressions occurring in hadith, in which he recorded material that neither Abu ʿUbayd nor Ibn Qutaybah mentioned in their respective books. It is an enjoyable and beneficial work, and whoever acquires it with a sincere intention is a fortunate and successful person. The judge Abu al-Mahasin in Rayy placed the book in my hands, and his own teacher therein, ʿAbd al-Ghafir al-Farisi, transmits it from Abu Sulayman. No other writings of his have come to me save these two books, and that only by munāwala (1) rather than by audition, when I met Abu al-Mahasin—a circumstance had sorely burdened me and exhausted my strength; were it not for that, I would not have delayed in listening to them. The eminent Abu ʿAbd Allah al-Thaqafi has also transmitted to us the book al-ʿUzlah (2) from Abu ʿAmr al-Razjahi, from him, and I am uncertain whether I heard it completely or only in part.

Al-Silafi went on to say: “Abu ʿUbayd al-Harawi, in his book al-Gharibayn, narrates from him and calls him ‘Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Khattabi,’ without mentioning his kunya. Abu Mansur al-Thaʿalibi (3) agreed with that in his book al-Yatima, though he did cite the kunya. And Abu…"