to learn of his lineage.”

He said, “Abū al-Qāsim ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn Muhammad ibn Ishāq ibn Mandah al-Asbahānī wrote to me, sending a fascicle containing a hadith from Ibn ‘Abbās concerning seeing Allah, transmitted through several chains, together with the hadith scholars’ comments on it. He said: Al-Husayn ibn ‘Alī ibn Salamah al-Hamdānī, Muhammad ibn ‘Alī ibn Ma‘dī, and others informed us, saying: Ahmad ibn Ja‘far ibn Mālik narrated to us. Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh ibn Ishāq also narrated to us—and the wording is his—saying: Sulaymān ibn Ahmad ibn Ayyūb narrated to us, saying: ‘Abdullāh, the son of Imam Ahmad, narrated to us: My father narrated to me: