language, and other works besides that; in all he composed twenty-odd books (1).

Those who transmitted hadith from him include: Nasr ibn Dawud, Abu Bakr al-Saghani, Ahmad ibn Yusuf al-Taghlibi, al-Hasan ibn Mukram, Abu Bakr ibn Abi al-Dunya, al-Harith ibn Abi Usamah, Ali ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Baghawi, Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Marwazi, Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Darimi, Abbas al-Duri, Ahmad ibn Yahya al-Baladhuri, and others.

Ibn Saʿd (2) said: “Abu ʿUbayd was a tutor, a man of grammar and Arabic, dedicated to the study of hadith and fiqh. He served as qadi of Tarsus during the governorship of the emir Thabit ibn Nasr al-Khuzaʿi (3) and remained in his service and that of his son. He later came to Baghdad, where he explained the obscure terms found in hadith, authored books, related traditions, and performed the pilgrimage. He passed away in Mecca in the year 224 AH.”

Abu Saʿid ibn Yunus said in his History: “Abu ʿUbayd came to Egypt with Yahya ibn Maʿin in 213 AH and wrote down traditions there (4).”

Ali ibn Abd al-Aziz said: “He was born in Herat, and his father had been a slave belonging to one of its residents.”

He also oversaw the affairs of the Azd (5).

Abd Allah ibn Jaʿfar ibn Durustawayh the grammarian said: “Among the scholars of Baghdad who were both hadith experts and grammarians in the Kufan school, and transmitters of linguistic lore and rare expressions from—”