He transmitted from: his own father, Abū Bakr al-Zubaydī, ʿAbd al-Wārith ibn Sufyān, and a number of others.

al-Humaydī (1) said: “He was an imam in the Arabic language—reliable, scrupulously pious, and upright. He authored a work on philology (2) for which no equal has ever been produced, whether in brevity or in breadth.” Ibn Ḥazm related to me, saying (3):

“Muḥammad ibn al-Faradī told me that when the emir Mujāhid al-ʿĀmirī gained control of Murcia, he sent Abū Ghālib one thousand dinars on the condition that he expand the entry of this book with material I had composed (4) for Abū al-Jayš Mujāhid al-ʿĀmirī (5). Abū Ghālib returned the gold and refused, saying, ‘Even if the whole world were offered to me for that, I would not do it, nor would I deem lying permissible, for I did not compile it exclusively for him.’”

d. 436 AH (6), in Almería.

391 – al-Ṣaffār, Abū Saʿd ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿUmar*

The ḥadith transmitter, Abū Saʿd ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿUmar al-Iṣfahānī, known as al-Ṣaffār, the brother of the jurist Abū Sahl al-Ṣaffār.