were in his own handwriting; never were so many virtues combined in a single man as were combined in him. He served as judge for 56 years and delivered the Friday sermon for 76 years, and no slip has ever been recorded against him. His recitation of the Qur’an was simply peerless.

Abu Bakr ibn al-Khadhiba said: “I saw—as though on the Day of Resurrection—that someone was calling out, ‘Where is Ibn al-Khadhiba?’ It was said to me, ‘Enter Paradise.’ When I entered, I lay on my back, crossed one leg over the other, and exclaimed, ‘Ah! By Allah, I am finally free from copying.’

“I then raised my head and there was a saddled, bridled mule held by a young servant. I asked, ‘Whose mule is this?’ He replied, ‘It belongs to the Sharif Abu al-Husayn ibn al-Ghariq.’

“The following morning the death of Abu al-Husayn—may Allah have mercy on him—was announced to us.⦗1⦘”

The ascetic Yusuf al-Hamadhani said: “Abu al-Husayn went deaf, yet he would still read to us. He was constant in worship. He read to us the hadith of the two angels⦗2⦘, and he wept profusely, causing everyone present to weep.”

Ibn Khayrun said: “He passed away at the beginning of Dhu al-Hijjah in the year 465 AH.”

In that same year the sultan ʿAdud al-Dawlah Abu Shujaʿ Arslan⦗3⦘ ibn Jaghri Beg also died. Jaghri Beg’s given name was Dawud⦗4⦘ ibn Mikaal ibn Saljuq ibn Tuqaq ibn Saljuq the Turk, the just ruler. Their forefather Tuqaq—whose name is interpreted as “Iron Bow”—was the first of the family to embrace Islam.