Yahya ibn Maʿin and others pronounced him trustworthy.

He died in 120 AH.

Others say it was in 118 AH—and Allah knows best. (1)

The archetype on which we have relied contains the following note: “The fourth section of Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ by the Shaykh, the Imām, the authoritative scholar Shams al-Dīn Ibn al-Dhahabī—may Allah prolong his span—has now been completed. It is the very first copy to be transcribed from the author’s own hand and has been collated against it. What follows in the next section, which is the fifth, is the biography of Abū Burdah ibn Abī Mūsā ʿAbd Allāh ibn Qays ibn Ḥaḍḍār al-Ashʿarī (may Allah be pleased with him). The copying of this volume was finished in the year 739 AH.

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and may Allah bless Muhammad—His Prophet, the choicest of His creation—and grant him peace.”

Volume Five