His honorific is Abū Ḥāmid al-Marwazī. He is known as Ibn Ṭabarī. He was a ḥadīth memorizer (ḥāfiẓ). He engaged in much worship. He was a Ḥanafī jurist who did his work thoroughly and had good knowledge of ḥadīth. He studied under Abū Ḥusayn al-Karhī. He wrote books on jurisprudence (fiqh) and history.
He served as chief judge (qāḍī al-quḍāt) of Khurāsān, and later came to Baghdad. At that time, he was very advanced in age. He transmitted ḥadīth to the public. People listened to and benefited from his ḥadīth narrations. Among those who listened to him and wrote down ḥadīth was Dāraquṭnī.