He⦗1⦘ said: Abū Bakr died on the tenth of Ramaḍān in the year 297 AH.

ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Munʿim⦗2⦘ informed us, from al-Kindī, and I read before Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn al-Muwaffaq al-Shāfiʿī: Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Nashbī informed you, saying:

Zayd ibn al-Ḥasan al-Kindī narrated to us; ʿAlī ibn Hibat Allāh al-Kātib narrated to us; I heard Abū Isḥāq al-Shīrāzī say:

“After that, jurisprudence in every land reached by Islam came to rest with the disciples of al-Shāfiʿī, Abū Ḥanīfa, Mālik, Aḥmad, and Dāwūd. Through them the science of law spread throughout the horizons, and leading scholars who affiliated themselves with these imams rose to champion their schools and uphold their rulings.

Using the same chain, Abū Isḥāq (may Allah have mercy on him) said: As for Dāwūd, a number of his students undertook the transmission of his legal doctrine. Among them was his son, Abū Bakr Muḥammad, a jurist, man of letters, poet, and refined scholar. He used to debate the leading authority of our school, Abū al-ʿAbbās ibn Surayj, and he succeeded his father in his teaching circle….”

I heard our shaykh, the judge Abū al-Ṭayyib al-Ṭabarī, say: I heard Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Khuḍarī⦗3⦘ say:

“I was sitting with Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Dāwūd when a woman came to him and said, ‘What do you say about a man who has a wife yet neither keeps her properly nor divorces her?’

Abū Bakr replied, ‘The scholars have differed on that. Some say she should be instructed to remain patient, seeking reward, and be encouraged to earn a livelihood. Others say the husband must be ordered to provide maintenance; if he fails, he is compelled to issue a divorce.’

The woman did not grasp his answer, so she repeated her question.”