He rose through the ranks, became prominent, and was dispatched as an envoy from the chancery of al-ʿAzīz to various kings. His fortune multiplied, yet he narrated only a small number of ḥadiths.
He died in the month of Ramaḍān, 585 AH.
He produced an excellent edition of Al-Arbaʿīn, contained in a single volume.
Abū al-Yumn records in his book: Muḥammad ibn Abī Jaʿfar informed us; Yūsuf ibn Aḥmad in Makkah informed us; Ismāʿīl ibn Aḥmad informed us; Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad informed us; Ibn Ḥabābah (1) narrated to us; al-Baghawī narrated to us; Hudbah (2) narrated to us; Ḥammād, from Thābit, from Anas, narrated:
“The Prophet ﷺ visited a man who had become as thin as a fledgling …”—the ḥadith (3).
124 – Ibn al-Fakhkhār, Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Khalaf al-Andalusī
The shaykh, the imām, the ḥāfiẓ, distinguished and meticulous, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn
(1) Al-Dhahabi notes in al-Mushtabih, p. 206: “With an initial un-dotted h (hā) carrying a fatḥa and a light b (bā)… Abu al-Qasim ʿUbayd Allah b. Ḥababa, the associate of al-Baghawi.”
(2) See al-Dhahabi, al-Mushtabih, p. 652.
(3) Shuʿayb [al-Arnaʿut] states that the chain is sound. The report is recorded by Muslim (no. 2688, Book of Remembrance and Supplication), by Ahmad 3/107 through Ibn Abi ʿAdi, and by al-Tirmidhi (no. 3487) through Sahl b. Yusuf, both routes going back to Ḥumayd, then Thabit, then Anas. The narration relates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ visited a Muslim who had become so weak he was “like a fledgling.” The Prophet asked, “Were you invoking Allah with any particular prayer?” He replied, “Yes. I used to say: ‘O Allah, whatever punishment You have prepared for me in the Hereafter, bring it forward for me in this world.’” The Prophet said, “Glory be to Allah! You cannot bear that – you have no strength for it. Why did you not say: ‘O Allah, grant us good in this world, good in the Hereafter, and protect us from the Fire’?” The man then invoked Allah with that wording, and Allah healed him. Muslim also transmits the report through ʿAffan → Ḥammād → Thabit → Anas, and through Salim b. Nuh al-ʿAttar → Saʿid b. Abi ʿAruba → Qatada → Anas.
(*) Biographical entries may be found in: Ibn al-Abbar, Takmila, 2/547; al-Mundhiri, Takmila, no. 242; al-Dhahabi, Tarikh al-Islam, fol. 168 (Topkapi Ahmed III 2917/14); and idem, al-ʿIbar, 4/274.