four hundred.
He said: “After that, the name al-Shāshī appears time and again in works of Qur’anic commentary, hadith, legal theory, and speculative theology, whereas the name al-Marwazī is the one that recurs in discussions of positive-law details (1).
Abu al-Hasan al-Ṣaffār related: “I heard Abu Sahl al-Suʿlūkī, and he was asked about the tafsīr of Abu Bakr al-Qaffāl. He replied, ‘It purifies him from one aspect and sullies him from another’—meaning, it sullies him because he championed the Muʿtazilite position.”
I say: We have already mentioned his death, and perfection is rare. A scholar is praised for the abundance of the virtues he possesses; one misstep should not bury his merits, and it may be that he later retracted. He may also be excused for having exhausted every effort in the pursuit of truth; there is no might and no power except with Allah.
Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqī said in Shuʿab al-Īmān: “Abu Naṣr ibn Qatādah recited to us; Abu Bakr al-Qaffāl recited to us:
I spread my tent wide for whoever arrives,
and my provisions are free to anyone who eats.
Whatever we have on hand we set before our guest,
even if it be nothing but bread and vinegar.
The noble man is content with that,
while the base one—I care not about.” (2)
201 – Kashājim, Abu Nasr Maḥmūd ibn Ḥusayn*
The poet of his age, mentioned alongside al-Mutanabbī.
He is Abu Nasr Maḥmūd ibn Ḥusayn; he