Imam Aḥmad enjoyed his company, felt at ease in his home, and counted him among his own students. He died in 283 AH.

His brother:

237 – Abū Muḥammad Ismāʿīl ibn Isḥāq al-Thaqafī al-Sarrāj *
He and his brother took up residence in Baghdad. He transmitted ḥadith from Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, Isḥāq, and several others, and he remained in close attendance upon Imam Aḥmad. Among those who narrated from him are Daʿlaj, Ibn Qāniʿ, Abū Bakr al-Ṣibghī, and a number of others. Al-Dāraquṭnī declared him reliable. He died in 286 AH, though some say 293 AH; the first date is the sounder.

238 – al-Maghāzilī Abū Bakr ibn al-Mundhir al-Baghdādī **
The imam, the saintly devotee, Abū Bakr ibn al-Mundhir al-Maghāzilī al-Baghdādī, was an ascetic and a close companion of Imam Aḥmad. His name was Badr, though some held it to be Aḥmad. He narrated from Muʿāwiyah ibn ʿAmr al-Azdī and others.