and if everyone who made a single slip in a ḥadith were to be branded as suspect, no one would be spared.

The ḥadith master Abū Bakr Ibn Mardawayh said: “I entered Baghdad and set out to collect the narrations of Idrīs ibn Jaʿfar al-ʿAṭṭār from Yazīd ibn Hārūn and Rawḥ. I found only a few isolated reports, yet al-Ṭabarānī has transmitted a great many from Idrīs on the authority of Yazīd.”

I reply: This proves nothing. The Baghdadis narrated profusely from Idrīs because of his leniency, and when al-Ṭabarānī encountered him he seized the advantage of Idrīs’s high chains, reported abundantly from him, and devoted special attention to his material.

Aḥmad al-Bāṭirqānī said: “Ibn Mardawayh entered al-Ṭabarānī’s house— I was with him—after the death of his son Abū Dharr to sell al-Ṭabarānī’s books. When he saw the fascicles of al-Awāʾil there, he was distressed, reviled al-Ṭabarānī, and held a poor opinion of him.”

Sulaymān ibn Ibrāhīm, the ḥāfiẓ, said: “There was something in Ibn Mardawayh’s heart against al-Ṭabarānī, so he voiced certain remarks. Abū Nuʿaym said to him, ‘How much, O Abū Bakr, have you written from him?’ He pointed to several bundles, whereupon Abū Nuʿaym asked, ‘And whom have you ever seen to equal him?’ Ibn Mardawayh fell silent.”

The ḥadith master Ḍiyāʾ remarked: “In his History of Isfahān, Ibn Mardawayh mentioned a number of narrators and declared them weak; he also mentioned al-Ṭabarānī yet did not deem him weak. Had he considered him unreliable he would certainly have said so.”

Abū Bakr ibn Abī ʿAlī al-Muʿaddal said: “Al-Ṭabarānī is too well-known to require evidence attesting to his merit and learning. He possessed vast knowledge and produced many works. It is reported that he lost his sight toward the end of his life, and he used to say, ‘The heretics have bewitched me.’ One day Ḥasan al-ʿAṭṭār—his disciple—tested his vision and asked, ‘How many beams are in the ceiling?’ He replied, ‘I do not know, but the inscription on my signet ring reads: Sulaymān ibn Aḥmad.’”

I say: He uttered that in jest.

It is also related that on another occasion he was asked, “Who is this approaching?”—meaning his son. He answered, “Abū Dharr—though not the Companion al-Ghifārī.”