the Corner and the Station, when I saw the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—who said, “O Abū Zayd, how long will you keep teaching the book of al-Shāfiʿī and not teach my book?”

I asked, “Messenger of Allah, what is your book?”

He replied, “The Compendium of Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl,” meaning al-Bukhārī’s Ṣaḥīḥ.

Abū Zayd was asked, “When did you meet al-Firabrī?” He answered, “In the year 318 AH.”

Al-Ḥākim stated, “In Marw, Abū Zayd heard from the companions of ʿAlī ibn Ḥujr, and he reported extensively from al-Munkadirī.” Al-Ḥākim also dated his death as mentioned above.

He held certain legal opinions (1) that the school considers uncommon.

He lived in Mecca for seven years, poor, enduring the cold, concealing his hardship, and content with little.

Worldly wealth came to him only at the end of his life, by which time his teeth had fallen out and he could no longer chew. He remarked, “May Allah not bless a favor that arrives when there is neither fang nor front tooth,” and he composed some verses on the matter.

222 – al-Azhari, Abū Manṣūr Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Azhar
The erudite scholar Abū Manṣūr Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Azhar ibn Ṭalḥah al-Azhari