so at the very least let them enjoy my courtesy.”
I passed these words on to the ustādh, who said, “Do not go back to him; he has set the bowl aside.”

ʿAbd al-Ghanī said: I heard Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Saʿrah relate that he had heard Abū Bakr ibn Muqatil say, “Judge Abū al-Ṭāhir spent the entire fortune his father had left him.”

Al-Ḥāfiẓ ʿAbd al-Ghanī also said: When Abū al-Ṭāhir went out to receive al-Muʿizz Abū Tamīm in Alexandria, al-Muʿizz asked him, “Judge, how many caliphs have you seen?”
He replied, “One.”
“Who is he?”
“You,” he answered; “the rest are merely kings.” Al-Muʿizz was delighted with the reply, then said, “Have you performed the pilgrimage?”
“Yes.”
“And did you convey your greetings to the Two Shaykhs?”
“The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—kept me so occupied that I could not greet them, just as the Commander of the Believers has occupied me with his heir-apparent.” Al-Muʿizz admired him all the more and rid himself of the heir-apparent, for Abū al-Ṭāhir had not greeted him in the caliph’s presence. That very day al-Muʿizz rewarded him with 10,000 dirhams.

Zayd ibn ʿAlī the scribe told me that Judge Abū al-Ṭāhir al-Sadūsī recited to him the following verses of his own:

Though in matters of passion I may be naïve,
my veil is never torn;
I hint at love while my heart weeps blood—
my tears remain unshed;
Outwardly I look a master in command,
inwardly I am a slave in thrall.

And Khumār ibn ʿAlī in Tyre related to me: I brought Judge Abū al-Ṭāhir some verses he had composed about his son; he recited them and wept:

O you who—after killing me—
go off to make the pilgrimage in devotion to Allah,
You have left me lovesick for you,
weeping over you and causing others to weep.
Tell me, how could I forget you,
or how could I endure without you?
My soul is your ransom—
this is the reward your servant receives from you.