in Isfahan, and his word was accepted.

Al-Khalili said in al-Irshad: “Among the people of Isfahan is Abu Ahmad al-ʿAssal, a ḥāfiẓ, precise, and knowledgeable in this field. He held the judgeship of Isfahan and his narrations meet the conditions of the authentic collections. I met his son Ahmad in Rayy, and he related to me from his father.”

I (the author) say: Al-ʿAssal also narrated in Baghdad, and Abu Bakr al-Khaṭīb mentioned him in his History, saying, “Al-Malini informed us; Ibn ʿAdiyy informed us; Abu Ahmad al-ʿAssal narrated to us in Baghdad; Ahmad ibn ʿAmr ibn Abī ʿĀṣim narrated to us,” and he cited a hadith (1).

Abu Mūsā al-Madini said: Abu Ghālib ibn Hārūn, the littérateur, reported:

He was urged to accept the judiciary, but he kept refusing. They persisted until he agreed to act as a deputy and substitute. Al-Ṭabarī appointed him as his deputy while residing at the court of Rukn al-Dīn Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Buwayh in 339 AH. When al-Ṭabarī appointed his son ʿUtbah as successor in 342 AH, and ʿUtbah personally took up the judgeship in 346 AH, he deputised Abu Ahmad.

It was said that he never closed his door to anyone. If an oath was required of a defendant, he would avoid putting him under oath whenever possible; instead he would pay the claim himself as long as it did not reach one hundred dinars. When it reached, or exceeded, one hundred, he would investigate carefully, postpone the matter until the next session, warn the defendant of the peril of a false oath, frighten him with the Day of Judgement, remind him of standing before the Lord of the worlds, and then administer the oath, though only with reluctance.

Abu Bakr ibn Mardawayh said: I heard Abu Ahmad say, “With regard to the Qur’an (2) I have memorised fifty thousand hadiths.”