Abū Sahl ibn Ziyād said, “I heard Aḥmad al-ʿAbbār say: ‘In a dream I pledged allegiance to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that I would establish the prayer, pay the zakat, enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong (1).’

Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar ibn Salm also related: “I heard al-ʿAbbār say, ‘I was in Ahwāz and noticed a man who had trimmed his moustache—he had, I think, purchased some books and set himself up to issue legal opinions. When the people of hadith were mentioned to him, he said, “They are nothing; they amount to nothing.” I told him, “You do not even know how to pray properly.” He replied, “Me?” I said, “Yes. What have you memorised from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, for when you begin the prayer and raise your hands?” He fell silent (2). I then asked, “What do you know from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, about what to say when you prostrate?” Again he was silent. So I said (3), “Did I not tell you that you do not know how to pray (4)? Do not speak ill of the people of hadith (5).”’

Al-Khaṭīb said: “Al-ʿAbbār died on the fifteenth of Shaʿbān in the year 290 AH (6).”

I add: he lived a little over eighty years. He authored a useful chronicle that I have seen. Al-Dāraquṭnī declared him trustworthy, and he gathered the hadiths of al-Zuhrī.