Abu al-ʿAbbas Thaʿlab said, “With Dawud ibn ʿAli, the breadth of his intellect surpassed the measure of his learning.” (1)
Al-Ḥafiz Qasim ibn Asbagh recounted: “I once consulted Ibn Jarir al-Tabari and Ibn Surayj about Ibn Qutaybah’s book on fiqh. They replied, ‘It is of no consequence. If you want jurisprudence, then turn to the works of the jurists—al-Shafiʿi, Dawud, and their like.
“‘Nor are the writings of Abu ʿUbayd (2) works of fiqh. Do you not see his book on Al-Amwal, even though it is the finest of all his compositions? (3)’”
Ibn Hazm said: “Dawud was an Iraqi who authored eighteen thousand pages. Among his pupils were Abu al-Hasan ʿAbd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Ruwaym, Abu Bakr ibn al-Najjar, Abu al-Tayyib Muhammad ibn Jaʿfar al-Dibaji, Ahmad ibn Makhlad al-Iyadi, Abu Saʿid al-Hasan ibn ʿUbayd Allah—the prolific author—Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Dajjaji, and Abu Nasr al-Sijistani … and he named several other students besides.”
ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Munʿim (4) informed us—through Abu al-Yaman al-Kindi—that ʿAli ibn ʿAbd al-Salam narrated, and Abu Ishaq the jurist, in his Tabaqat al-Fuqahaʾ, recorded:
“Among the jurists of Baghdad was Abu Sulayman Dawud ibn ʿAli ibn Khalaf al-Asbahani. He was born in 202 AH and died in 270 AH. He studied under Ishaq ibn Rahuyah and Abu Thawr. He was an ascetic who lived on little (5). It is said that four hundred men wearing green cloaks attended his gatherings, and he was fiercely devoted to al-Shafiʿi.”