Abu Ahmad the judge—himself a hadith master—
never did he follow the people of error.
Abu Ishaq, whose renown had spread abroad,
would teach the reports of the Messenger and amplify them.
The third of them, the pivot of his age and era,
Abu al-Qasim al-Lakhmi, excelled with original contributions.
The fourth was Ibn Hayyan, who came last;
he is gone—so what hope remains today for seekers of knowledge?
Abu Ishaq is Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Hamzah al-Isbahani, the hadith master (1), d. 353 AH.
Al-Lakhmi is Sulayman ibn Ahmad ibn Ayyub al-Tabarani (2), the hadith master; he died in 360 AH at the age of one hundred.
Ibn Hayyan is the hadith master Abu Shaykh ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Hayyan al-Isbahani (3), a prolific author; he passed away in 369 AH at a little over ninety years of age.
The hadith master Ibn Mardawayh states in his History: “Judge Abu Ahmad died on Monday in Ramadan of the year 349 AH, while I was in Baghdad.”
Abu Bakr ibn Abi ʿAli said: “He passed away on the ninth of Ramadan—may Allah have mercy on him.”