He heard ḥadith from Saʿdān ibn Naṣr, Ḥafṣ ibn ʿAmr al-Rabālī, Aḥmad ibn Manṣūr al-Ramādī, ʿAbbās al-Dūrī, Ḥanbal ibn Isḥāq (1), and several others.

Those who related from him include Muḥammad ibn al-Muẓaffar, al-Dāraqutnī, Ibn Shāhīn, Abū al-Ḥasan Ibn al-Jundī, and others.

Leading imams studied jurisprudence under him.

Abū Isḥāq al-Marwazī (2) said, “When I entered Baghdad, there was no one there worthy to be studied under (3) except Ibn Surayj and Abū Saʿīd al-Iṣṭakhrī (4).”

Al-Khaṭīb said: “He was appointed judge of Qummar (5), and he also served as the market inspector of Baghdad, where he burned down the venue of amusement (6).”

He added: “He was scrupulous and ascetic, content with little of this world. He authored beneficial works, among them the book Adab al-Qaḍāʾ (Judicial Etiquette), the like of which no one else has produced (7).”

I add: he is counted among the scholars whose opinions constitute an independent wajh within the school.

It was said that his robe, turban, cloak, and trousers were all cut from a single piece of cloth (8).