— in Balkh, at the age of eighty-six, as al-Samʿānī ⦗1⦘ records.

He (al-Samʿānī) also said: “I heard ʿUmar al-Sarkhasī relate that Niẓām al-Mulk came to us. Someone told him, ‘In the village of Wakhsh there is a shaykh who has journeyed widely and possesses profound knowledge.’ So he summoned him, and they read Sunan Abī Dāwūd to him.

Al-Wakhshī once remarked: ‘I travelled far, enduring humiliation and hardship. When I returned to Wakhsh, no one recognised my worth. I said to myself, “I shall die and my name will never spread, and no one will ask Allah to have mercy on me.” Then Allah eased the matter and inspired Niẓām al-Mulk to build this madrasa and seat me here to teach. I was in Asqalān studying with Ibn Muṣaḥḥiḥ and went several days without food; I sat near a baker just so I could inhale the smell of bread and draw strength from it.’ ⦗2⦘

Zaynab bint ʿUmar ibn Kindī told us; Abū Hāshim ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn al-Faḍl informed us; ʿUmar ibn ʿAlī al-Maḥmūdī, the judge of Balkh, narrated to us; al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ⦗3⦘ narrated to us; al-Ḥāfiẓ Tammām ibn Muḥammad told us; Aḥmad ibn Ayyūb ibn Ḥadhlam informed us; Abū Zurʿah narrated to us; ʿUmar ibn Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth narrated to us; my father narrated to us; al-Aʿmash narrated to us; Ibrāhīm narrated to me, saying:

Al-Aswad said: We were sitting with ʿĀʾishah when we spoke about steadfastness in prayer and the reverence due to it. ʿĀʾishah said: ‘When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was stricken with the illness from which he died and the time for prayer arrived, the call to prayer was given, and he said, “Instruct Abū Bakr to lead the people in prayer.”’ He then mentioned the remainder of the ḥadīth.