I say: This is an overstatement, for at the turn of the fifth century he (1) was not yet renowned; his fame spread only twenty years before his death.

It is related from Ismāʿīl the ḥadith master that he said, “In my lifetime I have never seen anyone whose memorization matches mine.”

Abū Mūsā said: He recited the various canonical readings to a group of Qur’an masters. As for tafsīr, maʿānī, and iʿrāb, he wrote books on those subjects in both Arabic and Persian. With respect to fiqh, his legal opinions became famous throughout the city and the surrounding countryside (2).

Abū al-Manāqib Muḥammad ibn Ḥamzah al-ʿAlawī said, “The great imām, the marvel of his age, the peerless scholar, Abū al-Qāsim Ismāʿīl ibn Muḥammad, narrated to us …,” and he mentioned a ḥadith.

We have also heard of Abū al-Qāsim’s devotion, his regular litanies, and his night vigils. Abū Mūsā said: I heard someone relate that on the day he brought his son’s corpse and sat to receive condolences, he renewed his ablution about thirty times, praying two cycles after each one. I also heard some of his companions say that he used to dictate his commentary on Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim at the grave of his son Abū ʿAbd Allāh; when he finished it he held a banquet (3) and distributed plentiful sweets.

His son (4) was born in 500 AH, grew up, and became an authority in language and the sciences—hardly anyone surpassed him in eloquence, clarity of expression, or brilliance—and his father even preferred him to himself in matters of language.