Abū Aḥmad al-Ḥākim said, “His master copies were sound; he heard (hadith) from Ibn Rāhwayh and from Muḥammad ibn ʿUthmān al-ʿUthmānī.” We asked Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Māsarjisī about him, and he confirmed that he had indeed heard from Isḥāq.

171 – Ibn al-Marzubān, Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Khalaf al-Muḥawwalī *
The imām, erudite scholar, and historian: Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Khalaf ibn al-Marzubān ibn Bassām al-Muḥawwalī al-Baghdādī al-Ājurrī, well-known for his compilations.

He transmitted hadith from al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār, Aḥmad ibn Manṣūr al-Ramādī, Muḥammad ibn Abī al-Sarī al-Azdī— not the ʿAsqalānī—, Abū Bakr ibn Abī al-Dunyā, and several others.

Those who narrated from him include Abū Bakr ibn al-Anbārī, Abū al-Faḍl ibn al-Mutawakkil, Abū ʿUmar ibn Ḥaywayh, and others.

A portion of his writings has reached me. Among his works are: al-Ḥāwī fī ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān (The Comprehensive Compendium on Qur’anic Sciences); a book on Ḥamāsah (heroic poetry); Kitāb al-Mutayyamīn (The Passionate Lovers); Kitāb Akhbār al-Shuʿarāʾ (Accounts of the Poets); and additional titles.

He was truthful.

He died in 309 AH, at the age of eighty-something, or slightly older.

In that same year also died: Ḥāmid ibn Muḥammad ibn Shuʿayb; Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Mukrim; Ismāʿīl ibn Mūsā the accountant; al-Ḥallāj—who was executed; ʿUmar ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Ghailān; Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Rāshid ibn Maʿdān; and Abū al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAṭāʾ.