Abu Isa Musa ibn Muhammad ibn Khalaf ibn Rajih al-Maqdisi, with a poem of his, in which he says (1):
After al-Muwaffaq, I have no desire left In life; indeed, life is a potent poison.
The foremost of the age, its eye, and its masterpiece, The pillar of the people, the ascetic, the pious.
Al-Muwaffaq acquired knowledge from the scholars of his time in Damascus, Baghdad, Makkah, and Mosul. He compiled a comprehensive Mashyakhah (record of teachers) for himself, and here is a mention of those whom we know, arranged in alphabetical order:
1 - Abu al-Fadl Ahmad ibn Salih ibn Shafi' al-Jili, then al-Baghdadi, the Hafiz. He was one of the upright scholars and virtuous narrators of Hadith. He passed away in the year 565 AH (2). He heard from him in Baghdad (3). Al-Muwaffaq said: 'He was an Imam in the Sunnah, reliable, a Hafiz, and he would recite beautifully with a high voice' (2).
2 - Abu al-Ma'ali Ahmad ibn Abd al-Ghani ibn Muhammad ibn Umar ibn Hanifah al-Bajisra'i (4). He was reliable and passed away in the year 563 AH (5). He heard from him in Baghdad (6).
3 - Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Rahbi. He heard from him in Baghdad (7).
4 - Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi, his father. He heard from him in Damascus in the year 600-and-something (8).
5 - Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Muqarrab ibn al-Husayn al-Baghdadi al-Karkhi, the Musnid. He was reliable.
(1) See the verses in: Dhayl Tabaqat al-Hanabilah 2/143, 144. (2) Al-'Ibar 4/190; Siyar A'lam al-Nubala' 20/572, 573. (3) Dhayl al-Rawdatayn 140; Takmilat Wafayat al-Naqalah 5/159; Dhayl Tabaqat al-Hanabilah 2/133. (4) Bajisra: A small town east of Baghdad, between it and Hulwan, ten parasangs from Baghdad. Mu'jam al-Buldan 1/454. (5) Al-'Ibar 4/180. (6) Mu'jam al-Buldan 2/114. (7) Siyar A'lam al-Nubala' 22/166. (8) Dhayl al-Rawdatayn 141; Dhayl Tabaqat al-Hanabilah 2/133; al-Nujum al-Zahirah 6/256.