Abu al-Shaykh al-Isfahani

Abu Muhammad Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ja'far ibn Hayyan al-Ansari al-Isfahani, known as Abu al-Shaykh, was born in 274 AH and died in 369. ¹ Heinen says he was renowned as a reliable scholar of hadith and tafsir, and that none of his works on hadith, tafsir and history had yet been edited or studied when he wrote. ¹

Heinen cites Abu Nu'aym's Dhikr akhbar Isbahan, which calls him a companion (sahib) of Abu Dawud, and al-Dhahabi's Tadhkirat al-huffaz, which says he was so pious that his students usually found him at prayer, unlike his contemporary al-Tabarani, whom they found merry and laughing. ¹

Heinen sees these traits reflected in Kitab al-Azama, which became the chief source of al-Suyuti's al-Hay'a al-saniyya. ¹