Ibn Ḥibbān declared him trustworthy.
He died in the year 240 AH (1).
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad said: “My father invoked mercy for him and remarked, ‘Indeed, I envy him; he died knowing nothing but ḥadīth—he was never a man of speculative theology.’ (2)”
I add: Such were the leading Imams of the early generations. They regarded involvement in dialectical theology and disputation as improper, and instead devoted their full efforts to the Book and the Sunnah, gaining deep understanding of them, following their guidance without excess or affectation.
41 – Ziyād ibn Ayyūb ibn Ziyād al-Ṭūsī * (B, D, T, N)
The Imām, meticulous scholar, and great ḥāfiẓ, “the junior Shūʿbah,” Abū Hāshim al-Ṭūsī—later of Baghdad—also nicknamed Dallawayh.
He was born in 166 AH.
He heard from Hushaym ibn Bashīr, Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh, and Ziyād ibn ʿAbd Allāh
(1) Tarikh Baghdad, vol. 2, p. 183, reports that he died in Baghdad on a Tuesday, thirteen days before the end of the month of Jumada al-Ula in the year forty (AH). The same source also transmits from Abd al-Khaliq ibn Mansur that Yahya ibn Main, when asked about Abu Bakr al-Ayn, replied, “He is not one of the scholars of hadith.” Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi explains that Yahya merely meant he did not belong to the elite who memorise the hidden defects of hadith and critique its transmission lines, such as Ali ibn al-Madini and his peers. His honesty and accuracy in what he narrated were never questioned, and al-Khatib explicitly adds: “He was trustworthy.”
(2) al-Wafi bi-l-Wafayat, vol. 2, p. 335.
(*) Further biographical references: al-Tarikh al-Kabir 3/345; al-Tarikh al-Saghir 2/395; al-Jarh wa-l-Ta'dil 3/525; Tarikh Baghdad 8/479–481; Tabaqat al-Hanabila 1/156–158; Tahdhib al-Kamal, p. 440; Tadhhib al-Tahdhib 1/242/1; Tadhkirat al-Huffaz 2/508–509; al-Ibar 2/3; Tarikh Ibn Kathir 11/11; Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 3/355; Tabaqat al-Huffaz, p. 221; Khulasat Tadhhib al-Kamal, p. 124; Shadharat al-Dhahab 2/126.