—at the close of most of those entries—the political, cultural, social, and economic conditions prevailing in the period he was treating. In only a few paragraphs he could outline the general situation, a feat that attests to the breadth of his historical vision and his outstanding ability to portray an entire epoch, spanning the far-flung Muslim world, with concise expression.
Such mastery is possible only for one who has comprehensively absorbed his age and studied it in depth, thereby attaining this overarching conception and inclusive understanding. (1)
This extensive knowledge of rijāl, joined to his keen intelligence and insight, also made him a skilful critic of transmitters. His writings on criticism and its principles bear witness to this, foremost among them his monumental Mizān al-Iʿtidāl fī Naqd al-Rijāl, which his contemporaries (2) and later scholars (3) regarded as one of his finest and most important works.
A great many ḥuffāẓ, scholars, and specialists in criticism produced supplements, commentaries, and abridgements of it, so much so that Shams al-Dīn al-Sakhāwī said, “Those who came after him relied upon it.” (4)
Al-Dhahabī also offers brilliant observations on the fundamentals of criticism. He composed an epistle entitled Dhikr man Yuʾtaman Qawluhu fī al-Jarḥ wa-l-Taʿdīl (“A Mention of Those Whose Statements in Impugnment and Validation May Be Trusted”), in which he discussed the principles of criticism, the ranks of the critics, and the manner of receiving their judgments. (5)
In the introduction to the Mizān he listed the terms of impugnment and validation from their highest to their lowest grades, clarifying what each one signifies in the discipline. (6)
Throughout his books he further explicates some of these principles,