ʿAbd al-Ghāfir ibn Ismāʿīl said, “He was exacting, devout, and of slender means. He spent his life in that condition until Niẓām al-Mulk put him on a stipend—first in Bayhaq, then in Ṭūs—so that he might continue to benefit (1).

Aḥmad ibn Thābit al-Ṭaraqī (2) related: “I heard Ibn al-Khāḍibah say, ‘Masʿūd was a Qadarite. I heard him recite the phrase “faḥajja Ādama Mūsā,” placing Ādam in the accusative (3).’ ”

Al-Muʾtaman al-Sājī said, “He eventually returned to right guidance, accuracy, and sound precision (4).”

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad, the ḥāfiẓ, reported to us; Yūsuf ibn Khalīl reported to us; Masʿūd ibn Abī Manṣūr reported to us; al-Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad al-Ḥaddād reported to us; Masʿūd ibn Nāṣir reported to us; ʿUthmān ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Nawqānī reported to us; my father, Abū ʿUmar, reported to us; Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Khayyāṭ reported to us; Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Yāsīn reported to us; Abū ʿAṭṭāb reported to us; Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Dīnār al-Naysābūrī—from Azhar al-Sammān—from Ibn ʿAwn—from Ibn Sīrīn—from Abū Hurayrah:

from the Prophet ﷺ who said, “Take dessert and eat watermelon, for its sweetness comes from Paradise.” (5)