in that discipline; he completed his public exposition of the Qur’an from the pulpit in 392 AH. He then began a second cycle but died while commenting on Sūrah al-Qiyāmah, having lived ninety years.
Al-Silafī relates in his Muʿjam of Baghdad that Abū Ismāʿīl al-Anṣārī said: “Yahyā ibn ʿAmmār was a king in the garb of a scholar. A wealthy admirer used to bring him each year one thousand Herati dinars, and when Yahyā died they found forty sealed purses of gold that he had never opened.”
Abū Ismāʿīl also said: I heard Yahyā ibn ʿAmmār state, “Knowledge is of five kinds: a science that is the life of the religion—namely, the science of tawḥīd (monotheism); a science that is the nourishment of the religion—namely, exhortation and remembrance; a science that is the medicine of the religion—namely, fiqh; a science that is the disease of the religion—namely, reports of the disputes that occurred among the early generations; and a science that is the destruction of the religion—namely, kalām (speculative theology).”
I observed: And what of the science of the Ancients?
Yahyā ibn ʿAmmār was among the leading preachers, yet how unbecoming it is for a scholar who calls people to Allah to be grasping and intent on hoarding wealth!
He had moved from Sijistān because of the tyranny of its governors, and in Herat he became immensely celebrated—indeed, people went to excess in their veneration of him. Abū Ismāʿīl al-Anṣārī completed his training under him and succeeded him afterward.
Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī informed us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar informed us; ʿAbd al-Awwal ibn ʿĪsā informed us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad the jurist dictated to us; Daalaj informed us—(ḥāʾ).
And with this same chain back to ʿAbd Allāh he said:
Yahyā ibn ʿAmmār dictated to us; Ḥāmid ibn Muḥammad informed us; they both said: Abū Muslim related to us; Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, from Thawr ibn Yazīd, from Khālid ibn Maʿdān, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAmr, from ʿIrbāḍ ibn Sāriyah, who said:
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ delivered to us an eloquent exhortation that brought tears to our eyes and caused our hearts to tremble. Someone said, ‘O Messenger of Allah! It is as though…’”