He was born in the year 492 AH.

He heard hadith from: Abu al-Qasim ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Rab‘i, Ubayy al-Narsi, Yahya ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab ibn Mandah, Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Bari‘, Abu Ghalib al-Banna’, Hibatu Allah ibn al-Husayn, and many others.

He read extensively and mastered the foundational texts.

In literature and philology he studied under: Abu ‘Ali ibn al-Muhawwil, the master of language; Abu al-Sa‘adat ibn al-Shajari; ‘Ali ibn Abi Zayd al-Fasihi; Abu Mansur Mawhub ibn al-Jawaliqi; and Abu Bakr ibn Jawamard the grammarian.

He surpassed all his contemporaries in linguistic sciences. In his own elegant, meticulously vocalized hand he copied a vast amount, and his zeal for audition was such that he even read before his peers. He amassed an indescribably large collection of books, and countless students graduated under him in grammar.

Those who narrated from him include: al-Sam‘ani, Abu al-Yaman al-Kindi, the hadith master ‘Abd al-Ghani, Shaykh al-Muwaffaq, Abu al-Baqa’ al-‘Ukbari, Muhammad ibn ‘Imad, Fakhr al-Din ibn Taymiyyah, and Mansur ibn Ahmad ibn al-Mu‘awwij (1).

Al-Sam‘ani said: “He is a thoroughly accomplished and virtuous young man, possessing complete mastery of literature, language, grammar, and hadith. He recites hadith with a fine, accurate, rapid, and intelligible delivery. He has heard a great deal and secured the principal sources from every avenue, yet he guards them carefully. I myself have listened to him on many occasions, and he would read continuously throughout the day without weariness. I heard Abu Shuja‘ al-Bistami say:

‘Ibn al-Khashshab read to me Gharib al-Hadith by Abu Muhammad…’”}