He was one of the imams. He studied under Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī, Aʿnīʾash, Hishām, Hammām b. ʿUrwa, and a group of others. A number of notable figures, including Imām Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, transmitted hadith from him.
Yazīd b. Hārūn said about him: "He was a righteous scholar."
He was virtuous; for forty years, he did not sleep lying on his side on the ground.
It is said that for sixty years, he completed a recitation of the Qur'an every day. He fasted eighty Ramadans. He passed away this year at the age of ninety-six. While in the throes of death, he turned to his son, who was weeping for him, and said: "O my dear son, why are you crying? By Allah, your father has never committed any indecency or sin."