Abu al-Qasim Ibn ʿAsakir said: “I heard Ismaʿil ibn Muhammad, the ḥāfiẓ (hadith master), remark, ‘Of all the people I have met, the one with the strongest memory is Muhammad ibn Tahir.’”

Abu Zakariyya Yahya ibn Mandah stated: “Ibn Tahir was one of the ḥuffāẓ (masters of hadith memorization): sound in creed, of noble conduct, truthful, well-versed in what is authentic and what is weak, an author of many works, and constantly devoted to the transmitted tradition.”

Al-Silafi said: “I heard Muhammad ibn Tahir declare, ‘I have copied al-Ṣaḥīḥayn and the Sunan of Abu Dawud seven times for hire, and I have copied the Sunan of Ibn Majah ten times in Rayy.’”

Abu Saʿd al-Samʿani reports: “I asked the jurist Abu al-Hasan al-Karji about Ibn Tahir, and he replied, ‘No one on the face of the earth was his equal. He followed the school of Dawud (1). He told me, “I have chosen the school of Dawud.” I asked, “Why?” He said, “That is simply how it turned out.” I then asked him, “Who is the greatest man you have ever met?” and he answered, “Saʿd ibn ʿAli al-Zanjani and ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Ansari.”’”

Abu Masʿud ʿAbd al-Rahim al-Haji said: “I heard Ibn Tahir say, ‘I have passed blood in my urine twice in pursuit of hadith—once in Baghdad and once in Mecca. I used to walk barefoot in the blistering heat and that is what brought it on. Never did I mount an animal in my quest for hadith; I carried my books on my back, and I never asked anyone for anything while I was seeking knowledge—I lived on whatever (2) came to me.’”

It was also said that he habitually walked twenty farsakhs in a single day and night, and he was able