and the devotee of his land, through whom they sought blessing and to whose supplications they would turn for relief.
He had no equal; his prayers were answered, and on more than one occasion their effect was tried and plainly seen. He performed the Hajj, applied himself to the variant Qur’an readings and to exegesis, and possessed a fair share of jurisprudence—yet worship dominated his life.
Yunus ibn ʿAbd Allah even compiled a book on his virtues.
ʿUmar ibn ʿAfif said of him: “He was a man of learning, asceticism, frugality and worship, of commendable doctrine. My eyes have never seen his like in renunciation and devotion. He wore wool, sometimes walked barefoot and at other times wore sandals.”
Muhammad ibn Abi ʿUthman related to me, from his father, that al-Hakam al-Mustansir Billah wished to meet the ascetic Yaḥyā ibn Mujāhid but could not manage it. He therefore sent someone to approach him gently and win him over, but Ibn Mujāhid replied, “I have no need of him. Only viziers and well-groomed courtiers visit the ruler—what would he do with men in ragged clothes?”
Al-Hakam then dispatched to him a woollen cloak, a hood, a middling-quality shirt and some dinars. When Ibn Mujāhid saw them he said, “What have I to do with these? Return them to their owner. If they will not leave me alone, I shall depart.” So the caliph despaired of meeting him and left him alone. The shaykh used to sit with a school-teacher in the Great Mosque whose company he enjoyed.
Ibn Ḥayyān said: My father Khalaf told me, “One day I was in the study-circle of the master Abū al-Ḥasan al-Antākī in the Great Mosque when we heard a stir in the royal gallery. A young man emerged carrying a leather chair, came up to the shaykh, placed the chair near him and said, ‘The Commander of the Faithful will be coming out shortly, and he says to you: do not rise or alter your posture, out of honor for your gathering and respect for what you are engaged in.’ Not long after, there was another commotion in the gallery: the pages and slaves came out, and al-Hakam was with them, and he came…"