He also performed the pilgrimage and studied under Abū ʿImrān al-Fāsī. He was one of the great repositories of knowledge—well-versed in hadith, deeply acquainted with juristic disagreement, Qur’anic exegesis, and the variant readings. He did not approve of blind imitation, authored many works in both prose and verse, and was renowned for his eloquence. Inwardly he was devout and scrupulous, chaste, and content with little (1).

Abū Muḥammad Ibn Ṣāʿid al-Qāḍī said: “Al-Qāsim ibn Fath was unmatched in his time for both knowledge and practice. He trod the path of the early generations in sincerity and piety, excelled in linguistics, the Qur’an, and the principles and branches of jurisprudence, and possessed a notable gift for eloquence—he had no equal (2).”

Al-Ḥumaydī (3) remarked: “He was a famous jurist, a learned ascetic who derived his jurisprudence from hadith, and he composed poetry on renunciation.”

I say: He was born in 388 AH. He died in Ṣafar, 451 AH, and more than one authority spoke highly of him.

Among his verses:

The days of your life are slipping away,
and every deed of yours is being inscribed;
Then the witness against you is drawn from yourself—
so where, oh where, is the escape? (4)