Muhammad b. Aḥmad b. Yaʿqūb b. Shayba b. Ṣalt al-Sadūsī. He was a mawla (client) of the Sadūs tribe. His kunyah (teknonym) was Abū Bakr. He heard and transmitted ḥadith from his grandfather, ʿAbbās al-Durrī, and others. Abū Bakr b. Mihdī also transmitted from him. He was a ṣīqa (reliable) narrator.
According to what al-Ḥāṭib al-Baghdādī narrated, the father of Muhammad b. Aḥmad b. Yaʿqūb had his son’s zodiac sign determined by astrologers at the time of his birth and had them calculate how long he would live. They said: “He will live this many years.” His father then prepared a well and threw into it one dinar for each day of the son’s predicted lifespan. When the well was full, he dug another well and filled it in the same way. Then he prepared a third well and left there three dinars each day for the number of days of his son’s life. Nevertheless, that money did not benefit his son; he became poor and began to beg from people. He would come to the ḥadith gathering wearing only an abaʾ (a coarse cloak) without wrapping a paṣṭamāl (waistcloth), and the people in the assembly would give him charity to provide for his sustenance. The truly fortunate person is the one whom Almighty Allah has made fortunate.