He also said in al-Taḥbīr (1): “He was a great ḥāfiẓ, a consummate scholar, having memorised the entire Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. He would dictate it straight from memory. Once, when he returned from the Ḥajj, the people came out to welcome him; he was on horseback, riding at their pace. But when he drew near Isfahān he spurred his mount, left the crowd behind, and said, ‘I was following the Sunnah, for the Prophet ﷺ would let his mount run when he caught sight of the walls of Madinah’ (2).”

He possessed charming manners. I served as his prompter in Mecca and Madinah, and he wrote ḥadīth from me. On one occasion he said to me, “I have kept you waiting,” and he apologised. I replied, “Master, to stand at the door of a muḥaddith is an honour.” He asked, “Do you have an isnād (3) for that statement?” I said, “No.” He responded, “You are its isnād.”

I heard Ismāʿīl ibn Muḥammad, the ḥāfiẓ, say: “Abū Saʿd travelled to Abū Naṣr al-Zaynabī. He entered Baghdad only to find that he had died. Abū Saʿd struck his head, wept, and cried, ‘Where am I now to find ʿAlī ibn al-Jaʿd from Shuʿbah?’ (4)”

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Marzūq, the ḥāfiẓ, said: “Abū Saʿd ibn al-Baghdādī is a blazing flame.”

Al-Samʿānī said: “I heard Maʿmar ibn al-Fākher remark: Abū Saʿd has memorised …”