Aḥmad, Ibrāhīm, ʿĀmir, and Abū Bakr.
Others who transmitted from him include: Abū Aḥmad ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAdī; Abū Bakr ibn al-Muqriʾ; Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Manda; Abū Bakr ibn Mardawayh; Abū Bakr ibn Abī ʿAlī; Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Ribāṭī; Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Qaṣṣār; Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Mājah, the instructor; Abū Saʿīd al-Naqqāsh; Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Muṣʿab; and Abū Nuʿaym.
Al-Bāṭirqānī relates: Ibn Manda told us, saying, “Abū Aḥmad al-ʿAssāl used to deputise for al-Ṭabarī and his son, and he was one of the foremost imams in the science of hadith.”
Al-Ḥākim said: “He was among the imams of hadith.”
Ibn Mardawayh stated: “Abū Aḥmad al-ʿAssāl, the certifier of transmitters, assumed the judiciary on behalf of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad al-Ṭabarī. In insight, precision, and trustworthiness he was one of the imams of hadith.”
Abū Saʿīd al-Naqqāsh said: “Abū Aḥmad al-ʿAssāl narrated to us, and we have never seen his equal in accuracy and retention.”
I remark: Al-Naqqāsh had met the two Ḥākims, al-Dāraquṭnī, Abū Bakr al-Jiʿābī, Abū Isḥāq ibn Ḥamzah, and taken knowledge from them, yet even so he made this judgment.
Abū Bakr ibn Abī ʿAlī al-Dhakwānī, the judge, said: “Abū Aḥmad al-ʿAssāl was trustworthy, reliable, and outstanding in memorisation and mastery.”
Abū Nuʿaym said: “Abū Aḥmad was among the leading figures in knowledge, precision, and retention. He compiled works on the teachers, on Qurʾānic exegesis, and on most of the Musnad collections, and he held the office of judge.”