and his father passed away in 356 AH.

Abu Bakr ibn Abi ‘Ali said—while speaking about Abu Bakr ibn Mardawayh—“He is too exalted for us to enumerate his merits, learning, and conduct, and the sheer quantity and reliability of his narrations are too famous to need description. May Allah preserve him and allow us to continue benefiting from his virtues.”

Abu Musa records in the biography of Ibn Mardawayh: “I heard my father relate—from someone who had heard Abu Bakr ibn Mardawayh say: ‘I have never written anything after the late-afternoon prayer, and I went blind before any of my contemporaries.’ I was also informed that after he lost his sight he would dictate purely from memory.”

He then added: “I heard Imam Isma‘il say, ‘Had Ibn Mardawayh been from Khurasan, his fame would have surpassed that of al-Hakim.’”

Abu Nu‘aym al-Haddad granted me an authorization and said: “I heard Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Mardawayh say: ‘I witnessed such piety in my grandfather’s approach to transmitting hadith that it filled me with wonder—so careful and precise was he. A dignitary once presented him with a large tray of sweets, whereupon he said, ‘If I accept it, I shall never again permit you to enter my house; but if you take it back, you will increase (1) the honor you show me.’”

I (the author) add: He also transmitted from Abu Sahl ibn Ziyad al-Qattan, Maymun ibn Ishaq, ‘Abd Allah ibn Ishaq al-Khurasani, Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Ilm al-Saffar, Isma‘il ibn ‘Ali al-Khutabi, Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn Duhaym al-Shaybani al-Kufi, Ishaq ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Kufi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn ‘Ubayd Allah al-Shafi‘i, Ahmad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Dulayl, Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn ‘Ali al-Aswari, Ahmad ibn ‘Isa al-Khaffaf, Ahmad Bundar al-Sha‘‘ar, Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Asim al-Karrani, Abu Ahmad al-‘Assal, and Abu Ishaq ibn Hamzah.