a man whose very presence inspired awe for Allah’s sake and whose counsel was obeyed; no two people disagreed about his excellence. He would tend his own vineyard with his own hands and make do with its produce (1).

He died in 424 AH, and throngs beyond counting attended his funeral—may Allah have mercy on him.

284 – Ibn Kurdān, Abū al-Qāsim ʿAlī ibn Ṭalḥah al-Wāsiṭī *

The foremost grammarian: Abū al-Qāsim ʿAlī ibn Ṭalḥah ibn Kurdān al-Wāsiṭī.

A disciple of Abū ʿAlī al-Fārisī and Ibn ʿĪsā al-Rummānī; he read Sībawayh’s Book to both of them.

The people of Wāsiṭ revere him greatly, even preferring him to Ibn Jinnī (2).

He prepared an iʿrāb—a grammatical commentary—of the Qur’an in a dozen-odd volumes, then washed the entire work away shortly before his death (3).

He was devout, circumspect, and above reproach.

Among those who studied with him were Abū al-Fatḥ ibn Mukhtār and Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Salām.

Khamīs al-Ḥawzī (4) recorded that he died in 424 AH.