al-Maʿālī al-Abarqūhī, Sunqur al-Qadāʾī, and his grandson, the minister Muḥyī al-Dīn ibn al-Naḥḥās, together with many others.

By written authorisation, he was also cited by the Chief Judge Taqī al-Dīn Sulaymān and Abū Naṣr ibn al-Shīrāzī.

ʿUmar ibn al-Ḥājib said: “He was trustworthy, an unimpeachable authority, and well-versed in religious matters. His name became famous, his reputation spread, and he was a man of piety and worship. In his own age he was for Aleppo what Qāḍī Abū Yūsuf had been in his. He managed the affairs of state in Aleppo, and every tongue joined in praising him. He founded a hadith college there and authored the book Dalāʾil al-Aḥkām in four volumes.”

Ibn Khallikān (1) said: “Ibn Shaddād (2) travelled down to Baghdad, where he taught (3); he then proceeded to Mosul and lectured at the Kamāliyya (4), from which many benefited. In 583 AH he performed the pilgrimage, visited Syria, and was summoned and honoured by Sultan Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn (5). The Sultan asked him for a hadith booklet so that he might hear it from him, whereupon he produced a fascicle containing remembrances drawn from al-Bukhārī, which the Sultan read aloud himself. He later compiled a bound volume on the merits of jihād (6), presented it to the Sultan, and remained in his service, after which the Sultan appointed him judge of the army. He subsequently served the Sultan’s son, al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Ghāzī, who entrusted him with the judiciary of his kingdom and the supervision of the endowments in the year ninety-something.”

He was not blessed with a son, nor had he any close relatives. It so happened that al-Malik al-Ẓāhir granted him a fief that yielded a considerable income, so a large fortune accumulated for him,