After further investigation, it seems that this work is most likely that of the great-grandson, Ahmad ibn ‘Abdillah ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khālid al-Barqi, for three reasons. Firstly, the author frequently narrates from the book of Sa‘d ibn ‘Abdillah and from ‘Abdullah ibn Ja‘far al-Himyari. Both these individuals were contemporaries of the third al-Barqi (‘Abdullah ibn Ahmad) and would narrate from his father’s al-Mahāsin. Secondly, when the author mentions Muhammad ibn Khālid, he does not state that he was his father. Thirdly, it has not been recorded anywhere that Ahmad ibn Muhammad had a book on rijāl.