Abu Sulayman Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Busti, the author of Gharib al-Hadith; the correct form of his name, however, is Hamd (1), as the great majority affirm, not as those two recorded it.

One of the men of letters who had studied under Ibn Khurrazadh al-Najirami (2) said: “He is Abu Sulayman Hamd ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Khattab al-Busti, a descendant of Zayd ibn al-Khattab, and he—may God have mercy on him—composed poetry that is pure enchantment.”

I add: he also wrote a Commentary on the Beautiful Names (3), the book Al-Ghunya ʿan al-Kalam wa-Ahlihi, and other works besides (4).

Abu al-Hasan and Shahdah informed us, saying:
Jaʿfar informed us, al-Silafi informed us, Abu al-Mahasin al-Ruyani informed us, “I heard Abu Nasr al-Balkhi, who said: I heard Abu Sulayman al-Khattabi, who said: I heard Abu Saʿid ibn al-Aʿrabi, while we were listening to him read this book—namely, the Sunan of Abu Dawud—say:

‘If a man possessed no knowledge other than the codex containing the Book of God and this book, he would never need any further learning whatsoever.’ (5)