He heard ḥadīth from al-Ḥārith ibn Abī Usāmah, ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, Abū Muslim al-Kajji, ʿUmar ibn Ḥafṣ al-Sadūsī, and Abū al-ʿAbbās ibn Masrūq.

He kept the company of Abū al-Ḥusayn al-Nūrī, al-Junayd, and Abū Muḥammad al-Jarīrī.

Those who narrated from him include Yūsuf al-Qawwās, al-Ḥākim, Abū al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ṣalt, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Satūrī, al-Ḥusayn al-Ghaḍāʾirī, Ibn Razquwayh, Ibn al-Faḍl al-Qaṭṭān, Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ḥammāmī, and Abū ʿAlī ibn Shādhān.

Al-Khaṭīb said: “He is reliable.”

Ibrāhīm ibn Aḥmad al-Ṭabarī said: “I heard al-Khuldī say,

‘I went to ʿAbbās al-Dūrī when I was still a youth. I wrote down one session from him and then left. A Sufi met me and asked, “What is this?” I showed it to him, and he exclaimed, “Woe to you! Do you leave the knowledge of patched cloaks and take up the knowledge written on paper?” He then tore the pages apart. His words lodged in my heart, and I never returned to ʿAbbās (1). I stood at ʿArafah fifty-six times.’

I say: He was nothing but an ignorant Sufi who shredded Prophetic ḥadīth and urged people toward some unknown pursuit—how badly he himself needed knowledge.

It was said: Among the marvels of Baghdad are the quips of al-Murtaʿish (2), the subtle hints of al-Shiblī (3), and the anecdotes of al-Khuldī (4).