in Damascus; some of our colleagues heard from him, but I myself never had the chance to do so. I did, however, hear accounts of his recitation from several shaykhs. Afterwards he travelled to Egypt, studied there, and settled permanently in Alexandria. There he married a woman of means and, after a period of poverty and asceticism, acquired considerable wealth. In Alexandria he enjoyed great prestige, and Abu Manṣūr ʿAlī b. Isḥāq b. al-Sallār, known as al-ʿĀdil, the emir of Egypt, built a madrasa for him and endowed it.

He granted me a blanket authorization for all of his ḥadith, and my brother (1) transmitted them to me on his authority.

I heard Imām Abū al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faqīh say: I heard the ḥadith master Zakī al-Dīn ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm say:

“I asked the ḥadith master Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. al-Mufaḍḍal about four scholars who were contemporaries. I said, ‘Whose memorization is stronger: Abū al-Qāsim Ibn ʿAsākir or Abū al-Faḍl Ibn Nāṣir?’ He answered, ‘Ibn ʿAsākir.’ I then asked, ‘Who has the better memory, Ibn ʿAsākir or Abū Mūsā al-Madīnī?’ He said, ‘Ibn ʿAsākir.’ I asked again, ‘Who excels more in memorization, Ibn ʿAsākir or Abū Ṭāhir al-Silafī?’ He replied, ‘Al-Silafī is our shaykh! Al-Silafī is our shaykh!’”

I remarked: As you can see, this answer is open to more than one interpretation. What seems to be the case is that he intended “al-Silafī” as the subject and “our shaykh” as the predicate, without meaning it descriptively. Otherwise, no one versed in ḥadith would doubt that Abū al-Qāsim was the ḥadith master of his age and that he never saw his own equal.

The ḥadith master ʿAbd al-Qādir said: Al-Silafī used to command what is right and forbid what is wrong; indeed, he removed (2) many objectionable practices from the area around his home.

I once saw him when a group of reciters who used melodic tunes came and wished to perform. He forbade them, saying, “This manner of recitation is an innovation; rather, recite in measured tones.” So they recited exactly as he ordered them.