In his Mashyakha, folio 107, he writes: “He was unrivalled in his time; students flocked to him. I read to him al-Mubhij fi al-qiraat al-sab‘ (The Delight on the Seven Readings) by Ibn Mujahid and al-Kifaya fi al-qiraat al-sitt (The Sufficiency on the Six Readings). I also heard from him some eighty fascicles. What an excellent shaykh he was—devout, humble, gentle, of fine character and fond of hadith. Among those who read extensively to him were Shaykh Ali al-Mawsili and Shaykh Alam al-Din. He owned a large orchard in Arbīl, which supported him and in which he resided most of the time. He died in Dhu al-Qi‘da of the year 698 AH.” (1) Both the letters ra and ba are pronounced with a fathah; the nisba goes back to his ancestor Rabal. (2) The chain of transmission is sound. Ahmad (1/309) records it through Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi with the same isnad. Abu Dawud (no. 3728) cites it in the Book of Drinks, “Chapter: On blowing into and breathing in the drink,” and al-Tirmidhi (no. 1888) in the Book of Drinks, “Chapter: Disapproval of blowing into the drink,” through two routes from Sufyan ibn Uyayna via Abd al-Karim. Al-Tirmidhi graded it “hasan sahih.” (3) Ibn Qudama states in al-Mughni (1/492): “No one objected to any of the ten canonical readings except the readings of Hamza and al-Kisai, because they contain breaking, assimilation, artificiality, and excessive prolongation.” Ibn al-Jazari comments in Ghaya al-nihaya (1/263): “What has been reported from Abd Allah ibn Idris and Ahmad ibn Hanbal regarding their dislike of Hamza’s reading should be understood as referring to the rendering of someone they heard who claimed to transmit from Hamza; the fault of reports lies with their transmitters.” Ibn Mujahid relates: Muhammad ibn al-Haytham said, “The reason is that a man who had studied with Salim attended the session of Ibn Idris and read; Ibn Idris heard words with excessive elongation, hamz, and other affectations, so he disliked it and criticized it.” Muhammad ibn al-Haytham added, “Hamza himself disliked such excess and forbade it.” I say: As for his dislike of exaggeration, we have transmitted that from him through several chains.