He heard from: al-Qaʿnabi; Muslim ibn Ibrahim; Sulayman ibn Harb; Muhammad ibn Kathir; ʿAmr ibn Marzuq; Abu al-Walid al-Tayalisi; Shadh ibn Fayyad; al-Walid ibn Hisham al-Qahdami; Hafs ibn ʿUmar al-Hawdi; Musaddad ibn Musarhad; ʿUthman ibn al-Haytham, the mu’adhdhin; Abu Maʿmar al-Muqʿad; ʿAli ibn al-Madini; ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab al-Hajabi; Muhammad ibn Salam al-Jumahi and his brother ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Salam; ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn al-Mubarak al-ʿAyshi; and a great many others.
He alone transmitted reports from most of these teachers. Indeed, he wrote so extensively that he later narrated on the authority of his own pupil, Abu al-Qasim al-Tabarani.
He was reliable, truthful, trustworthy, refined, eloquent, and articulate. Students travelled to him from every region, and he lived one hundred years, save a few months.
Those who narrated from him include: Abu ʿAwanah in his Sahih; Abu Bakr al-Suli; Abu Hatim ibn Hibban; Abu ʿAli al-Naysaburi; Abu al-Qasim al-Tabarani; Abu Ahmad ibn ʿAdi; Abu Bakr al-Ismaʿili; Abu Bakr al-Jaʿabi; Ahmad ibn al-Husayn al-ʿUkbari; Abu Shaykh; Abu Ahmad al-Ghitrifi; ʿAbd Allah ibn Muthahir; Abu Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Khallad al-Ramhormuzi (1); Abu Ishaq ibn Hamzah al-Isfahani; ʿUmar ibn Jaʿfar al-Basri; Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Sunni; Ibrahim ibn Ahmad al-Mimadhi; ʿAli ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Dahtham al-Tarsusi; Muhammad ibn Saʿid al-Istakhri; Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Abiwardi—the Meccan resident whom Abu ʿUmar al-Talamanki (2) managed to meet—Sahl ibn Ahmad al-Dibaji; and Ahmad ibn