Abū Isḥāq al-Ḥabbāl, the ḥāfiẓ; and, while in Mecca, from Abū Maʿshar al-Ṭabarī, as well as from many others.

He compiled a mashyakha (catalogue of his shaykhs) in three parts, and al-Samʿānī later produced another for him in a single fascicle.

Those who granted him written authorisation included Abū al-Qāsim al-Tanūkhī, Abū al-Fatḥ ibn Shīṭā, and the judge Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salāmah al-Quḍāʿī. He studied jurisprudence briefly with the judge Abū Yaʿlā and served as a witness before the Chief Judge Abū al-Ḥasan ibn al-Dāmghānī.

He narrated copiously, excelled in various virtues, and the loftiest chains of transmission ultimately converged upon him. He began teaching when he was twenty years old, during the lifetime of al-Khaṭīb.

A large company received ḥadīth from him, among them: al-Silafī, al-Samʿānī, Ibn Nāṣir, Ibn ʿAsākir, Ibn al-Jawzī, Abū Mūsā al-Madīnī, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muslim ibn Jawālaq, al-Mukarram ibn Hibat Allāh al-Ṣūfī, Abū Aḥmad ibn Sukeina (1), Aḥmad ibn Tazmash, Saʿīd ibn ʿAṭṭāf, ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Yaʿīsh al-Anbārī, ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Muẓaffar ibn al-Bawwāb, Yūsuf ibn al-Mubārak ibn Kāmil, ʿAbd al-Laṭīf ibn Abī Saʿd, Abū ʿAlī Ḍiyāʾ ibn al-Khuraif, ʿUmar ibn Ṭabarzad, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn al-Akhdar, Abū al-Yumn al-Kindī, al-Ḥusayn ibn Shunayf, Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn al-Dabīqī, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Maʿālī ibn Manīnā, and many others.

By way of ijāza as well: al-Muʾayyad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṭūsī and others.

Abū al-Qāsim Ibn ʿAsākir spoke of him in harsh and disparaging terms, saying, “He was suspected of adhering to the doctrine of the ancients, and it is reported that his religious commitment was lax.” He added, “He was acquainted with jurisprudence according to the school of…"