Ibn Tāhir said: Our teacher al-Habbāl would never let his master copy leave his hand unless he was there in person. He would pass the fascicle to the student, who would copy from it for as long as the shaykh remained seated. For most of his works he owned several duplicate copies. I have never seen anyone more diligent in acquisition, nor anyone with a larger library. His practice regarding ijāzah (written authorization) was to place it before a simple statement of transmission; he would say, “So-and-so granted us authorization,” and not, “So-and-so informed us by authorization.” He explained, “The word ‘authorization’ may sometimes drop out, leaving only a report; but if one begins with it, no uncertainty remains” (1).

I say: There is no objection to this; it is merely a matter of preference.

He went on, “I heard him say, ‘Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Naṣr al-Sijzī certified more than one hundred people; none of them is still alive except me’ (2).”

Ibn Tāhir added: Abū Naṣr prepared twenty fascicles for him while he was still a student and wrote them on old paper. We asked al-Habbāl about it, and he said, “This is some of the paper that used to be sent to the vizier—meaning Ibn Hinzabah—from Samarkand. A portion of his books fell into my hands, and whenever I found a blank sheet I cut it out until I had gathered this amount” (3).

Ibn Tāhir continues: When I set out to meet Abū Isḥāq al-Habbāl—people had described his appearance and conduct to me, and told me that he served himself—I wandered through one of the markets, not knowing where to go. I saw an elderly man matching the description standing at an apothecary’s stall, his sleeve filled with various items. I felt sure it was he. When he left, I asked the apothecary, “Who is that man?” He replied, “Do you not know him? That is Abū Isḥāq al-Habbāl.”

I followed him and delivered Saʿd ibn ʿAlī al-Zanjānī’s letter. He asked me about him and then took from his pocket a small fascicle containing the two hadiths.