Introduction

Muḥammad b. ‘Abdallāh b. Muḥammad b. Ḥamdūyah b. Nu‘aim b. al-Ḥakam al-Ḍabbī al-Ṭahmānī al-Naisābūrī, ¹ the ḥāfiẓ Abū ‘Abdāllah al-Ḥākim, known as Ibn al-Bayyi‘, was born on 3rd Rabī‘ I, 321, in Naisābūr. ² He began, under the care of his father and his maternal uncle, to hear traditions in 330. ³ In 341 he travelled to ‘Irāq and made the Pilgrimage. ⁴ In 360 he paid a second visit to ‘Irāq. ⁵ His travels took him also to Khurāsān, Transoxiana, and other countries. ⁶ He dictated traditions in Transoxiana in 355, in ‘Irāq in 367, and also in Baghdād and in Rayy for a period. ⁷ Under the Sāmānids he was appointed qāḍī in Nasā in 359, but when later he was appointed to Jurjān, he did not accept the office. ⁸ He was employed as an envoy to the Buwaihids. ⁹