He is the noble Imām, Abū Dāwūd Sulaymān ibn al-Ash‘ath as-Sijistānee, he is well-known by his kunyah, Abī Dāwūd. He was born in the year 202H in Sijistān. He sought knowledge early in his life. He was a ṭālib al-ilm (student of knowledge) before the age of eighteen. Then, he began to travel and seek knowledge. In the year 220H, he went to ʿIrāq. Abū Aḥmad (the leader) asked Abī Dāwūd to move to al-Baṣrah. He took Baṣrah as a place of residence and a place of seeking knowledge. He heard from Mūsá Ibn Ismāʿīl, al-Walīd and others. He went to Kūfah in the year 221H and he heard from al-Ḥasan Ibn Rabīʿ and Ibn Yunus and they were from the greater teachers of Imām Muslim. He used to travel between Baghdad and he heard from Imām Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal. He narrated his book, ‘as-sunan’ in al-Baghdad. Imām Aḥmad praised his book, ‘as-sunan’. Before 222H he entered Makkah and benefited from ʿAbdullāh who was from the narrators of al-Muwaataa of Imām Mālik. He also learnt from Hishaam Ibn Amaar who was from the teachers of al-Bukhārī. He later went to Misr and learnt from Aḥmad Ibn Ṣāliḥ, the head of the muhaaditheen of Misr. His last travel was in 271H to Baghdad, before going to Baṣrah and he died in the year 275H (raḥimahullāh).
 
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Translation: Abū al-Ḥasan Mālik Ādam al-Akhdar