He received ḥadith from Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Aṣamm, Abū ʿAlī al-Raffāʾ, and a number of other scholars.

He taught extensively, and leading imams graduated under him.

Al-Ḥākim said, “He was one of the most acute minds we ever met; many students completed their training with him, and he both narrated and dictated ḥadith.” He added, “I was told that in his study circle there were more than five hundred inkwells.”(1)

Abū Isḥāq al-Shīrāzī remarked, “Abū al-Ṭayyib was a jurist and a man of letters; he combined leadership in both worldly and religious affairs, and the jurists of Nīshāpūr studied under him.”(2)

Al-Ḥākim further observed, “His father revered him and used to say, ‘Sahl is a father.’”(3)

I say: Those who narrated from him include al-Ḥākim—although he was older than Abū al-Ṭayyib—Abū Bakr al-Bayhaqī,(4) Abū Naṣr Muḥammad ibn Sahl al-Shādhiyākhī, and others.

He left behind several memorable aphorisms, among them: “Whoever pushes himself to the front before his time has presented himself for humiliation.”

He also said, “Since pleasing people is difficult and unattainable, pleasing Allah is easy and must never be neglected. We need companions in times of hardship.”

Some scholars regarded Abū al-Ṭayyib as the mujaddid (reviver) of the religion for the beginning of the fifth century; others assigned that role to Ibn al-Bāqillānī, and still others to Shaykh Abū Ḥāmid