Aḥmad al-Dūmī, and the judge Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar al-Urmawī, who was the last person to relate from him—that is, through direct audition (1).

A number of others transmitted from him by written authorization (ijāzah); I have listed them in my History of Islam, the last of whom was Masʿūd ibn al-Ḥasan al-Thaqafī. Later, however, his authorization proved weak and open to challenge, so let this be noted.

Al-Khaṭīb’s handwriting was handsome, clearly vowelled, and perfectly accurate. I saw several of his volumes in Damascus and read, in his own hand:

“ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Simsār informed us; Ibn al-Muẓaffar informed us; ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥajjāj narrated to us; Jaʿfar ibn Nūḥ narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā narrated to us; I heard Yazīd ibn Hārūn say:

‘Sincerity has become scarce in ḥadīth only on account of its nobility.’”

Abū Manṣūr ʿAlī ibn ʿAlī al-Amīn said: When al-Khaṭīb returned from Syria, he possessed a fortune in garments and gold, and he had no descendants. He therefore wrote to the caliph al-Qāʾim bi-Amri Allāh: “My wealth will pass to the public treasury. Grant me permission to distribute it among whomever I wish.”

He granted permission, so al-Khaṭīb distributed it among the ḥadīth scholars (2).

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Nāṣir said: My mother told me that my father related to her: “I used to visit al-Khaṭīb and nurse him. One day I said to him, ‘Master, Abū al-Faḍl ibn Khayrūn did not give me anything of the gold you ordered him to distribute among the people of ḥadīth.’

Al-Khaṭīb raised his head from the pillow and said, ‘Take this piece of cloth—may it be blessed…’”