and ʿAlī ibn Ḥarb al-Jundaysābūrī; al-Faḍl ibn Yaʿqūb al-Rukhāmī, the ḥāfiẓ; the muḥaddith ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī al-Khaṣīb; the muḥaddith Ismāʿīl ibn Abī al-Ḥārith; Aḥmad ibn ʿUmar Ḥamdān, the cloth-merchant; and others besides.

Indeed, the one who washed Ibn al-Furāt was his companion Muḥammad ibn ʿĀṣim al-Thaqafī, the devoted ascetic and possessor of that booklet with the lofty isnād.

At the end of Ibn al-Furāt’s manuscript there is additional material that came into the hands of Yaḥyā al-Thaqafī.

Abū Muḥammad ibn Fāris said, “I heard from Abū Masʿūd in the year 254 AH.” He added, “He passed away in 256 AH.”

That is what he reported; however, the year 258 is more accurate, and that is the only date the ḥāfiẓ Ibn ʿAsākir cites.

The ḥāfiẓ Abū Nuʿaym said, “Abū Masʿūd was one of the leading imams and ḥuffāẓ. He compiled the Musnad and other works, and he taught in Isfahan for forty-five years. He had arrived in Isfahan before travelling on to Iraq, during the governorship of al-Ḥusayn ibn Ḥafṣ.”

I say: In fact, his first journey was to Iraq before the year 200 AH, where he met ʿAbd Allāh ibn Numayr and his cohort.

Ibn ʿAdī states in al-Kāmil: “I heard Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd say, ‘I heard Ibn Khirāsh swear by Allah that Aḥmad ibn al-Furāt lies deliberately.’” Ibn ʿAdī then remarked, “That is over-harsh; I know of no report from him that is objectionable.”

I say: Who would believe Ibn Khirāsh—the Rāfiḍī—in such a claim (1)?!