– al-Shaybānī related: Abū Bakr al-Khaṭīb informed us; al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad al-Ashqar narrated to me; I heard Abū ʿUmar al-Qāsim ibn Jaʿfar al-Hāshimī say, “I heard Ibn al-Jiʿābī declare, ‘I have committed four hundred thousand ḥadiths to memory, and I can debate six hundred thousand.’” (1)

Abū al-Qāsim al-Tanūkhī said, “Ibn al-Jiʿābī was appointed judge of Mosul, but his term in office drew no praise.” (2)

Al-Khaṭīb also reported from his teachers that Ibn al-Jiʿābī used to drink wine in the gatherings of Ibn al-ʿAmīd. (3)

Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī said, “I asked al-Dāraqutnī about Ibn al-Jiʿābī. He replied, ‘His transmission became muddled,’ and he mentioned his leaning toward Shiʿism. Abū ʿAbd Allah al-Ḥākim likewise quoted al-Dāraqutnī as saying, ‘A trustworthy informant told me that he left Ibn al-Jiʿābī asleep and wrote on his leg; I saw the writing remain for three days, untouched by water.’” (4)

Al-Azharī said, “When Ibn al-Jiʿābī died he directed that his books be burned, and they were. Other people’s books were among them. Abū l-Ḥusayn told me that he had deposited one hundred and fifty booklets with him, and they were lost along with the rest.” (5)

Masʿūd al-Sijzī said, “Al-Ḥākim narrated to us: I heard al-Dāraqutnī say, ‘When news reached me of Ibn al-Jiʿābī’s condition, I went to see him and found him burning his books, so I remained…’”