and under the Andalusian Aḥmad ibn Khalaf, author of al-Muqniʿ on the Qurʾānic readings.

He heard ḥadith from al-Nasīb (1) and scholars of his generation. A certificate of audition from Abū al-Ḥasan ibn Abī al-Jarw (2), a companion of Ibn al-Simsār, was discovered for him, yet he never transmitted it, saying, “I have no right to do so.”

He mastered jurisprudence, excelled in it, and travelled in search of knowledge, hearing from Abū ʿAlī ibn Nabḥān, Abū ʿAlī ibn al-Mahdī, and a number of others. He also studied Sunan al-Dāraqutnī and the rest of that author’s works.

He read books on legal theory and grammar, advanced in rank, listened to a great many narrations, and lectured at the Ghazāliyyah (3).

He likewise transmitted the Tabaqāt of Ibn Saʿd.

The office of preacher of Damascus was offered to him, but he declined. His maternal uncle, the judge Abū al-Maʿālī Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā al-Qurashī (4), pressed him to deputize for him in judicial matters, yet he still refused (5).

Those who narrated from him include his brother, his nephew al-Qāsim, his nephew Zayn al-Umanaʾ, Abū al-Qāsim ibn Ṣaṣrā, Sayf al-Dawlah Muḥammad ibn Ghassān, Mukram ibn Abī al-Ṣaqr, the mufti Fakhr al-Dīn Ibn ʿAsākir, and many others.

He died in Shaʿbān 563 AH, and he wrote a great deal of knowledge in his own fine hand.