ʿAbd al-Ghāfir al-Fārisī said, “He was a pleasant, trustworthy shaykh who followed the Sufi path. He studied—hearing hadith—in Nishapur, Herat, and Baghdad.

He was born in 375 AH and died in Rabīʿ al-Ākhir (1).

Another opinion states that he passed away on the ninth of Rabīʿ al-Awwal, 455 AH (2).

Al-Silafī said, “I heard al-Ḥasan ibn Saʿādah in Salamās say: Abu ʿUthmān al-Ṣābūnī and his brother came to us and stayed with my grandfather, and we received hadith from the two of them. Abu Yaʿlā had a sense of humor. A dish of sweets sat in front of his brother, and he ate it. My grandfather then took a plate from Abu Yaʿlā’s side and placed it before Abu ʿUthmān. Abu Yaʿlā exclaimed, ‘Is the wealth and prestige my brother already enjoys not enough for him, that he must also crowd me out for these sweets?’”

We were informed by Aḥmad ibn Abī al-Ḥusayn, from ʿAbd al-Muʿizz ibn Muḥammad; Zāhir ibn Ṭāhir informed us; Abu Yaʿlā al-Ṣābūnī informed us; Abu Saʿīd Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Simsār narrated to us; Ibn Khuzaymah narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Bishr narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Razzāq narrated to us; Ibn Jurayj and Mālik narrated to us from Ibn Shihāb, from Sālim, from Ibn ʿUmar:

that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said, “Bilāl makes the call to prayer while it is still night, so eat and drink until you hear the call of Ibn Umm Maktūm.” (3)