He said: He was extremely protective of his handwriting; indeed, whenever he was called upon to testify or to write in a legal opinion, he would snap the pen and then write with it in an intentionally poor script.

I add: He taught, issued formal rulings, and—after Abū al-Khayr al-Qazwīnī—served as lecturer at the Niẓāmiyya. Abū Bakr al-Ḥāzimī transmitted from him. He lived a little over eighty years.

Al-Muwaffaq ʿAbd al-Laṭīf ibn Yūsuf said: He was a master of knowledge and practice, of chastity and devotion. Although he enjoyed a comfortable life, he managed himself and his body with wise discipline. I saw him delivering a lesson and heard from him remarkable eloquence and a pleasing cadence, so I exclaimed, “How eloquent this man is!”

Our shaykh Ibn ʿUbayda the grammarian remarked: His father was a lute-player, and he and I were together in the kuttab; he took up the lute, excelled and mastered it until people testified that he ranked alongside Maʿbad. Then he grew weary of that and turned to calligraphy, until it was said that his script surpassed that of Ibn al-Bawwāb—especially in the ṭūmār and thuluth styles. Later he abandoned that as well and devoted himself to fiqh, becoming what you now see. He tutored the two sons of al-Nāṣir li-Dīn Allāh (1), and they even repaired his sandals (2).

Ibn al-Najjār said: He died on the eighth of Dhū al-Qaʿda 585 AH. That very afternoon he had gone out to join the congregational prayer at the ribat; as he headed for the prayer, a fit of coughing seized him and persisted until he collapsed. He was carried home and died then and there, and a large number of people attended his funeral—may Allah have mercy on him.