Those who transmitted from him include the Six Canonical Imams—save Ibn Majah—as well as Aḥmad ibn ʿAmr al-Bazzār, Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim, al-Baghawī, ʿAbdān al-Jawāliqī, Ibn Ṣāʿid, ʿUmar ibn Bujayr, Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Sarrāj, the judge al-Maḥāmilī, Muḥammad ibn Makhlad al-ʿAṭṭār, and a host of others.
ʿAbdān said, “I heard Abū Dāwūd say, ‘I do not narrate from Faḍl al-Aʿraj.’”
I asked, “Why?”
He replied, “Because no good hadith ever escaped him.” (1)
I say: A hadith guardian is not to be disparaged for such vigilance; besides, Abū Dāwūd himself—who made that remark—actually cited him in his Sunan.
Al-Nasāʾī said, “Reliable.” (2)
Abū Ḥātim said, “Truthful.” (3)
Ibn Ḥibbān likewise listed him in al-Thiqat.
Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq al-Sarrāj reported: “Faḍl ibn Sahl died in Baghdad on Monday, three days before the end of Ṣafar in the year 255 AH, at somewhat over seventy years of age. Abū ʿUbayd ibn Ḥarbawayh recorded the same date; he was known for transmitting unusual (gharīb) reports.”