Abū al-Ḥasan al-Dāraqūṭnī judged him to be a weak transmitter (1).

Ibn Zulaq said: “He came to Egypt and read aloud the works of Ibn Qutaybah and others. Later he travelled to Aswān to serve as its judge, and he stayed there for many years.

“He then told me—Aḥmad ibn Marwān relates—that Abū Jaʿfar ibn Abī Muḥammad ibn Qutaybah was appointed chief judge of Egypt. I received a letter at that time from Abū al-Dhikr Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā al-Mālikī which said:

‘I spoke to the judge on your behalf, and he promised to issue the decree in your favour. Yet when I mentioned that you transmit the books of his father, he hesitated, reflected, and said, “I know every person who heard from my father, and I do not know this man. If you have any identifying proof, write to me about it.” So I wrote back describing signs he would recognise. He then wrote to me apologising and sent me my commission.’”

The compiler says: I have not found a precise report of al-Dīnawarī’s death, but I think it occurred sometime after 330 AH (2).

ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad informed us; ʿIbrāhīm ibn Barakāt informed us; al-Ṣāʾin Hibat Allah and ʿAlī al-Ḥāfiẓ informed us, saying: the Naṣīb informed us; Rashāʾ ibn Naẓīf informed us; al-Ḥasan ibn Ismāʿīl informed us; al-Dīnawarī narrated to us; ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz narrated to us; Abū ʿUbayd, from Hushaym, from Mujālid, from al-Shaʿbī, who said:

“The ransom for the captives of Badr was four thousand dirhams or less. Whoever possessed nothing was instructed to teach the children of the Anṣār how to write.” (3)