and in Khurasan from: Ahmad ibn Ibrahim ibn Firas al-ʿAbqasi, Abu Ahmad al-Faradhi, the ḥadith master Abu ʿAbd Allah al-Hakim, Abu al-Hasan Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Salt al-Mujabbir, Abu ʿUmar ibn Mahdi al-Farisi, ʿAli ibn ʿAbd al-Rahim al-Susi, Abu ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Sulami, and ʿAbd al-Samad ibn Abi Jaradah al-Halabi. ʿAbd al-Samad related to him on the authority of Abu Saʿid ibn al-Aʿrabi, Hamzah ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz al-Muhallabi, Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Bakr al-Hizzani, ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Nahhas al-Misri, and many others besides them.
Those who narrated from him include: the ḥadith master Abu Ishaq al-Habbal, Sahl ibn Bishr al-Isfarayini, Abu Maʿshar al-Tabari the Qurʾan-reciter, Ismaʿil ibn al-Hasan al-ʿAlawi, Ahmad ibn ʿAbd al-Qadir ibn Yusuf, Jaʿfar ibn Yahya al-Hakkak, Jaʿfar ibn Ahmad al-Sarraj, and a host of others.
He is the transmitter of the musalsal hadith of “primacy” (1).
Muhammad ibn Tahir said, “I asked the ḥadith master Abu Ishaq al-Habbal about Abu Nasr al-Sijzi and Abu ʿAbd Allah al-Suri: which of them had the stronger memory?” He replied, “Al-Sijzi’s memory surpassed that of fifty men like al-Suri.”
Ishaq then related: “One day I was in the company of Abu Nasr al-Sijzi when someone knocked at the door. I rose, opened it, and a woman entered. She produced a purse containing one thousand dinars, placed it before the shaykh, and said, ‘Spend it however you see fit!’
“He asked, ‘What is your purpose?’
“She answered, ‘Marry me. I have no need of a husband, but I wish to serve you.’
“He ordered her to take back the purse and leave. When she had gone he said, ‘I left Sijistan with the firm intention of seeking knowledge. The moment I marry, that title will no longer apply to me, and I would never prefer…’