Al-Silafī said: I asked Hibat Allāh ibn al-Saqaṭī about his birth, and he replied, “The year 445 AH.” He had listened to a great many reports, was numbered among those who possessed memorization and knowledge, and his poetry is of fine quality. I saw him in Isfahān when he arrived with Rizq Allāh, reciting hadith to him.
Ibn Fūlādh said: I consulted Shujāʿ al-Dhuhlī about the narration of al-Saqaṭī from Abū Muḥammad al-Jawharī. He said, “We have never heard of this at all,” and he judged him extremely weak in it (1).
Al-Samʿānī said: I asked Ibn Nāṣir about al-Saqaṭī—“Was he reliable?” He replied, “No, by Allah; his lying became evident (2), and he is among the worthless cast-offs.”
He died in 509 AH.
182 — al-Abiwardī, Abū al-Muẓaffar Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad*
The professor, the erudite scholar, the consummate master: Abū al-Muẓaffar Muḥammad ibn Abī al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn
(1) Al-Muntazam, 9/183, states: “He possessed merit, learning, and a fondness for hadith. He gathered the names of scholars, compiled a chronicle, and produced historical works; yet he spoiled all this by claiming to have heard traditions from people he had never met. Among them was Abu Muhammad al-Jawhari, for his age makes it impossible that he heard from him.” In Ibn al-Najjar’s Tarikh, as quoted in Lisan, 6/190: “I found in al-Salafi’s own handwriting a fascicle he claimed to have heard from this man; it is fabricated, its chains of transmission pieced together. I did not see a single sound isnad in it—everything bears the stamp of manufacture.” Ibn Rajab adds in Dhayl al-Tabaqat, 1/114: “He wrote from the pupils of al-Daraqutni, Ibn Shahin, al-Mukhlis, Ibn Hubabah, al-Harbi, and their peers, and even from his own contemporaries and juniors. His craving for this matter went so far that he alleged audition from shaykhs he had never met and from whom his age precludes any hearing, such as Abu Muhammad al-Jawhari and others.”
(2) Al-Muntazam, 9/183, further records: “Our shaykh Ibn Nasir was asked about him: ‘Is he trustworthy?’ He replied, ‘No, by Allah! He narrated at Wasit from shaykhs he had never seen, and his falsehood was exposed to them.’”
(*) Principal sources: al-Ansab, p. 535; al-Muntazam, 9/176; Mu jam al-Udaba, 17/234-266; Mu jam al-Buldan, 1/86; al-Lubab, 3/230; al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh, 10/500; Inba al-Ruah, 3/49-52; Wafayat al-A yan, 4/444-449; Tarikh Abi al-Fida, 2/227; Tarikh al-Islam, 4/182; al-Ibar, 4/14; Tadhkirat al-Huffaz, 4/1241; Tatimmat al-Mukhtasar, 2/37; al-Wafi bil-Wafayat, 2/91-93; Uyoon al-Tawarikh, 13/288-294; Mirat al-Zaman, 8/29-30; Mirat al-Jinan, 3/196; Tabaqat al-Subki, 6/81-84; al-Bidaya wa-l-Nihaya, 12/176; Tabaqat Ibn Qadi Shuhba, 14-16; al-Nujum al-Zahira (continues).