ʿAbbās al-ʿAnbarī was once asked, “Which of the two was more knowledgeable in hadith, Ibn al-Madīnī or al-Shadhakūnī?” He replied, “Ibn al-Shadhakūnī in the minor narrations, and ʿAlī in the major ones.” ⦗1⦘

Abū ʿUbayd said, “Learning—meaning hadith learning—ultimately came to rest with four men: Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh, Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn, and Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah. Aḥmad was the most insightful of them in its jurisprudential implications; ʿAlī, the most knowledgeable about it; Ibn Maʿīn, the most comprehensive in collecting it; and Abū Bakr, the strongest in memorizing it.”

The ḥāfiẓ Zakariyyā al-Sājī commented, “Abū ʿUbayd was mistaken; the one who had memorized it best was al-Shadhakūnī.” ⦗2⦘

Abū Bakr ibn Abī al-Aswad said, “We were with Yaḥyā al-Qaṭṭān, and with him was Bulbul the hadith narrator—he was a black man. Al-Shadhakūnī began arguing with him and said, ‘I will surely kill you!’ Yaḥyā exclaimed, ‘Glory be to Allah! Would you kill him?’ He answered, ‘Yes. You yourself narrated to me—through ʿAwf, from al-Ḥasan, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Mughafal—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Were it not that dogs constitute a community, I would have commanded that they be killed; so kill every jet-black one of them.” ⦗3⦘ And this man is black!’ ”

Ibn ʿAdī said, “I asked ʿAbdān about al-Shadhakūnī, and he replied, ‘God forbid that he should be accused! His books had simply been lost, so he would narrate from memory.’ ” ⦗4⦘

It is also reported that when he was on his death-bed he said, “O Allah, I seek Your pardon, yet I have never accused…"