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He died in Rayy in 392 AH, and his coffin was later carried to Jurjan. He composed a large Qur’an commentary and a book entitled Refinement of History.
al-Thaʿalibi said: “The standing of Abu al-Hasan rose until he became Chief Judge, and none removed him from office but death.” (1)
Abu Saʿd al-Ābi, in his History, wrote: “This judge acknowledged no peer—indeed, no near-equal—while exemplifying chastity, probity, justice, and stern resolve.” (2)
He passed away on the twenty-third of Dhu al-Hijjah in 396 AH (3), and Ibn Khallikan (4) was mistaken when he asserted that the correct date was 366 AH; that date belongs to someone else, namely the hadith scholar.
…He is also the poet of these superb lines:
“I never exhausted my very life in the service of knowledge
to become a servant to every passer-by, but rather to be served.
Shall I sweat to plant it and then harvest only disgrace?
In that case, clinging to ignorance would have been the wiser course.
Had the people of learning but protected it, it would have protected them;
had they magnified it in their own souls, it would have magnified them.
Yet they humbled it openly and soiled
its radiant face with greed until it frowned.”
See Mu jam al-Udaba, 14/17-18; Yatimat al-Dahr, 4/23; and Tabaqat al-Subki, 3/460.
(1) Yatimat al-Dahr, 4/3; the judge was appointed by Fakhr al-Dawla Ali ibn Rukn al-Dawla al-Husayn ibn Buyeh.
(2) Tarikh al-Islam, 4/90/1.
(3) Thus in the base manuscript; Tarikh al-Islam, Tabaqat al-Subki, Mu jam al-Udaba, al-Bidaya wa-l-Nihaya, and al-Nujum al-Zahira date his death to 392 AH.
(4) Wafayat al-Ayan, 3/281—followed by Ibn al-Imad in al-Shadharat—places his death under the year 366 AH.
مَاتَ: بِالرَّيّ، فِي سَنَةِ اثْنَتَيْنِ وَتِسْعِيْنَ وَثَلاَثِ مائَةٍ، وَنُقل تَابوتُه إِلَى جُرْجَانَ.
وَلَهُ (تَفْسِيْرٌ) كَبِيْر، وَكِتَاب (تَهْذِيْبِ التَّارِيْخِ) .
قَالَ الثَّعَالِبِيّ: تَرَقَّى مَحلُّ أَبِي الحَسَنِ إِلَى قَضَاء القُضَاة، فَلَمْ يعزلْه إِلاَّ مَوْتُه (١) .
وَقَالَ أَبُو سَعْدٍ الآبِي فِي (تَارِيْخِهِ) :كَانَ هَذَا القَاضِي لَمْ يَرَ لِنَفْسِهِ مثلاً وَلاَ مُقَارباً، مَعَ العفَّةِ وَالنَزَاهَةِ وَالعَدْل وَالصّرَامَة (٢) .
تُوُفِّيَ: فِي الثَّالِث وَالعِشْرِيْنَ مِنْ ذِي الحِجَّةِ، سَنَة ٣٩٦ (٣) ، وَوَهِمَ ابْنُ خَلِّكَانَ (٤) ، وَصحّح أَنَّهُ تُوُفِّيَ سَنَةَ ٣٦٦.
وَإِنَّمَا ذَاكَ آخَرُ، وَهُوَ: المُحَدِّثُ
= ولم أبتذل في خدمة العلم مهجتي * لاخدم من لاقيت لكن لاخدما
أأشقى به غرسا وأجنيه ذلة * إذن فاتباع الجهل قد كان أحزما
ولو أن أهل العلم صانوه صانهم * ولو عظموه في النفوس تعظما
ولكن أذلوه جهارا ودنسوا * محياه بالاطماع حتى تجهما
انظر " معجم الأدباء " ١٤ / ١٧، ١٨، و" يتيمة الدهر " ٤ / ٢٣، و" طبقات " السبكي ٣ / ٤٦٠.
(١) " يتيمة الدهر " ٤ / ٣، والذي اختاره للقضاء فخر الدولة علي بن ركن الدولة الحسين ابن بويه.
(٢) " تاريخ الإسلام " ٤ / ٩٠ / ١.
(٣) كذا الأصل، وفي " تاريخ الإسلام " و" طبقات السبكي " و" معجم الأدباء " و" البداية والنهاية " و" النجوم الزاهرة " أن وفاته سنة اثنتين وتسعين وثلاث مئة.
(٤) في " وفيات الأعيان " ٣ / ٢٨١، وتابعه ابن العماد في " الشذرات " فأورده في وفيات ٣٦٦ هـ.