He was born in 200 AH.

He studied under Sulaymān ibn Ḥarb, ʿAmr ibn Marzūq, al-Qaʿnabi, Muḥammad ibn Kathīr al-ʿAbdi, Musaddad ibn Musarhad, Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh, Abū Thawr al-Kalbī, al-Qawāriri, and others of their rank. Later he travelled to Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh (1), from whom he transmitted the Musnad and the Tafsīr, and with whom he engaged in debate. He compiled and authored numerous works, assumed the chair of instruction, and many disciples graduated under him.

Abū Bakr al-Khaṭīb said, “He wrote books and was an Imām marked by God-fearing piety, devoted worship, and asceticism. His works are rich in hadith, yet transmissions from him are exceedingly rare.” (2)

Those who narrated from him include his son, Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Dāwūd; Zakariyyā al-Sājī; Yūsuf ibn Yaʿqūb al-Dāwūdī; ʿAbbās ibn Aḥmad al-Mudhakkir; and others.

Abū Muḥammad ibn Ḥazm said, “He was called al-Iṣbahānī only because his mother was from Isfahān, while his father followed the Ḥanafī school.” (3)

Abū ʿAmr al-Mustamlī remarked, “I saw Dāwūd ibn ʿAlī disputing with Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh, and I never saw anyone, before him or after him, challenge Isḥāq, out of awe for him.” (4)

ʿUmar ibn Muḥammad ibn Bujayr al-Ḥāfiẓ related: “I heard Dāwūd ibn ʿAlī say, ‘I entered upon Isḥāq while he was undergoing cupping, so I sat down and noticed the books of al-Shāfiʿī,’” and the report continues.