Abū al-Walīd Ibn al-Dabbāgh remarked, “He possesses an authorization (ijāza) from Ibn Ḥazm. A trustworthy, distinguished colleague of ours told me that Shurayḥ himself had informed him of this, and I know of no one among our teachers who has any transmission from Ibn Ḥazm apart from him. I asked him, ‘Did Ibn Ḥazm actually authorize you?’ He fell silent, and I take it that he kept quiet about Ibn Ḥazm on account of the latter’s school.”

I add: I personally examined a notebook containing several of Ibn Ḥazm’s works copied in al-Silafī’s own hand, and he had written on it: “Abū al-Ḥasan Shurayḥ ibn Muḥammad wrote to me, stating, ‘Abū Muḥammad Ibn Ḥazm has written to us.’”

Al-ḥāfiẓ Khalaf ibn Bashkuwāl (1) said: “Abū al-Ḥasan was one of the leading Qur’an reciters, counted among the men of letters and hadith scholars. He was an eloquent preacher, a first-rate memorizer, upright and virtuous, with beautiful handwriting and a generous disposition. Many people heard from him and traveled to study under him. He was appointed judge in his own town and was later relieved of the office. I met him in the year 516 AH and received narrations from him.”

Al-Yasaʿ ibn Ḥazm said: “He was an imam in precision and mastery of Qur’anic recitation, a towering figure of eloquence. He outstripped others in the craft of teaching recitation and excelled in Arabic alongside his knowledge of hadith and the jurisprudence of the Sharīʿah. When he mounted the pulpit, even the trunk of oratory seemed to yearn for him, and one could hear the sigh of reverent longing, accompanied by humility and tears. I journeyed to him in the year 524 AH and studied under him.”

I say: Among those who narrated from him were Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Khayr al-Lamtūnī; Muḥammad ibn Khalaf ibn Ṣāf; Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn Ḥumayd al-Balansī; Abū Bakr ibn al-Jadd al-Fihri; Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Fakhkhār; Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf ibn Mufarrij, who remained in Tlemcen until 600 AH; Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī al-Ḥaṣṣār; Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn Malkūn the grammarian; Najabah ibn Yaḥyā; and Abū Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd Allāh al-Ḥajarī.