—and, indeed, a badge of pride—he would recite graceful poetry, quote it fittingly, and had committed a great deal of it to memory (1).

It is related from him that he said, “Knowledge that brings its possessor no benefit is when a man is a scholar in theory yet not a practitioner in deed” (2).

He also said, “The ignorant look to the scholar for guidance; so if the scholar himself does not act, what hope can the ignorant entertain for themselves? For Allah’s sake, my children! We seek refuge with Allah from knowledge that turns into evidence against us” (3).

It is reported that ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn al-Qushayrī once sat beside Shaykh Abū Isḥāq. Feeling something heavy in the Shaykh’s sleeve, he asked, “Master, what is this?”
He replied, “My sailors’ biscuits.” He would carry the pair of them in his sleeve merely as an affectation (4).

Al-Samʿānī said: I found, in Abū Isḥāq’s own handwriting, a note containing a copy of what Abū Muḥammad al-Mazīdī had seen (5): “In the year 468 AH, on a Thursday night, I saw Abū Isḥāq al-Fīrūzābādī in a dream, flying with his companions in the third or fourth heaven. I was astonished and said to myself, ‘Here is the Shaykh, the Imām, flying with his companions, and I am among them!’ While I was contemplating this, an angel met the Shaykh, greeted him on behalf of the Lord—exalted is He—and said, ‘Allah sends you His peace and asks: What are you teaching your disciples?’
He answered, ‘I teach what has been transmitted from the Law-giver (ṣāḥib al-sharʿ).’
The angel said, ‘Then recite something for me so that I may hear it.’
The Shaykh recited a legal issue—the details of which I no longer remember. An hour later the angel returned to the Shaykh and said, ‘Allah says: …’