fascicles; he also produced the Book of Zuhd (Asceticism), the Book of Kunyas, the Book of the Major Benefits, the Benefits of the People of Rayy, and the work Introduction to Jarḥ and Taʿdīl (1).

I (the author) add: he likewise authored the book al-ʿIlal (2), a large single volume.

Al-Rāzī—whose name appears in the biography of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān—said: “I heard ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Miṣrī, while we were at Ibn Abī Ḥātim’s funeral, remark, ‘ʿAbd al-Raḥmān’s skull-cap is from heaven, and that is no cause for amazement: for eighty years the man remained on one steady course, never swerving from the path.’ (3)

I heard ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad al-Faraḍī say: ‘I have never met anyone who knew ʿAbd al-Raḥmān and ever attributed ignorance to him.’ (4)

I heard ʿAbbās ibn Aḥmad report that Abū Ḥātim had said, ‘Who can match ʿAbd al-Raḥmān in worship! I do not know of any sin attributable to him.’ (5)

I heard ʿAbd al-Raḥmān relate: ‘My father would not permit me to devote myself to hadith until I had recited the Qur’an to al-Faḍl ibn Shādhān al-Rāzī; only then did I begin to write down hadith.’ (6)

Al-Khalīlī said: ‘It is said that the sunnah at Rayy was sealed with Ibn Abī Ḥātim. He ordered the burial of the autograph manuscripts of his father and of Abū Zurʿah, declared his own writings an endowment, and appointed the judge al-Darastinī (7) as his executor.’