They endured many hardships, yet the ruler of Isfahan, ʿAlāʾ al-Dawla, spared no effort in honoring him—so much so that his servant said:

“The Shaykh possessed robust powers in every respect and was excessively given to intercourse, which disturbed his temperament. He was seized by colic and, in one day, administered eight enemas to himself; his bowels became ulcerated and a sahj (1) appeared. Epilepsy, the usual sequel of colic, then set in. One day he ordered that two dāniqs of celery seed be added to the enema, but his physician, whether deliberately or by mistake, put in the weight of five dirhams instead, and the sahj intensified. He also took mithridate (2) for the epilepsy, but his page increased the dose and added opium. They had already defrauded him of a large sum of money and wished for his death. He subsequently improved, yet despite his condition he persisted in frequent intercourse and would relapse.

When ʿAlāʾ al-Dawla departed for Hamadan, the Shaykh travelled with him. On the road the illness returned, his strength collapsed, and he abandoned treatment, saying:

‘What once sustained my body is now powerless; no remedy can profit me any longer.’ (3)

He died in Hamadan a few days later at the age of fifty-three.

Ibn Khallikan (4) relates: “He then performed a full ritual bath, repented, gave all he possessed to the poor, restored wrongs, freed his slaves, and began completing a reading of the Quran every three days, until he died on a Friday in Ramadan of the year 428 AH.”

He further said: “His birth occurred in Safar of the year 370 AH.”

I say: If that birth date is correct, he lived only forty-eight years and a few months, and he was buried by the wall of Hamadan.

It is also said that his bier was later moved to Isfahan.