Abū Bakr ibn al-ʿArabī said: “He is reliable, learned, a recognised master of Qur’anic recitation; his refined manners are evident, and he enjoyed a special closeness to Abū Bakr al-Khaṭīb.”

Al-Silafī remarked: “He was someone whose mere sight and whose narrations people boast of, thanks to his piety and expertise. He produced valuable books, and his teachers were many—the foremost among them was Ibn Shādhān.”

Ḥammād al-Ḥarrānī related: “Al-Silafī was asked about al-Sarrāj, and he replied, ‘He was a scholar of the Qur’anic readings, grammar, and language; trustworthy, firmly reliable, and exceedingly prolific in authorship.’ (1)

Ibn Nāṣir said: “He was trustworthy, dependable, knowledgeable, perceptive, and righteous. He turned a large number of works into verse, among them the Book of al-Mubtadaʾ by Wahb ibn Munabbih. In earlier days he would take dictation from al-Khallāl and al-Qazwīnī. He died in Ṣafar of the year 500 AH.”

Al-Silafī also said: “Al-Sarrāj recited to us, about himself:

By God, what a worthy band—
they strive in quest of every benefit!
They are called the folk of ḥadith;
through them the gatherings are adorned. (2)
At times you see them in Upper Egypt,
at others on the frontier of Amid.”