al-Kārazī; Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ṭarāʾifī; the Imām Abū Bakr al-Ṣibghī; the Ustadh Abū al-Walīd Ḥassān; the two sons of al-Muʾammal; Yaḥyā ibn Manṣūr the judge; Abū Saʿīd ibn Rumayḥ; Abū Bakr al-Qaṭīʿī; and their contemporaries.

He was born in 330 AH, according to the dating of ʿAbd al-Ghāfir—Allah knows best.

ʿAbd al-Ghāfir said: “Those who narrated from him include my grandfather, Zayn al-Islam al-Qushayrī; Abū Saʿīd ibn Rāmash; Abū Bakr ibn Zakariyyā; Abū Ṣāliḥ the muʾadhdhin; Abū Bakr ibn Khalaf; Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Taflisī; Abū Naṣr al-Jūrī; and ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad al-Madīnī.”

I add: also Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā al-Muzakkī, Abū Bakr al-Bayhaqī, al-Qāsim ibn al-Faḍl al-Thaqafī, and many others.

He was not strong in ḥadīth.

Al-Khaṭīb (1) mentioned him, saying, “He held an eminent station. Along with that, he was a ḥadīth-scholar, precise in his work. He compiled collections of shaykhs, biographical notices, and topical chapters, established a small lodge for the Sufis, and authored a Sunan and a Qurʾān commentary.”

Abū al-Walīd al-Qushayrī said: “I heard Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī ask Abū ʿAlī al-Daqqāq, ‘Which is more complete: dhikr (invocation) or fikr (contemplation)?’

He replied, ‘In which of the two has the shaykh been granted an opening?’

Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān said, ‘In my view dhikr is more complete, for the Truth is described as remembering (dhikr) but is not described as reflecting (fikr).’

Abū ʿAlī approved of this answer.

Al-Sulamī [also] narrated: “Muḥammad ibn al-ʿAbbās al-Ḍabbī told us; Muḥammad ibn Abī ʿAlī told us; al-Faḍl ibn Muḥammad ibn Naʿīm told us: I heard ʿAlī ibn Ḥujar say, ‘I heard Abā…’”