and, in whatever way one may speak of him, he is the imam of every imam, the one whose lofty ambition rises above every noble head (1), the victor who forces every lion to bite the dust. If he takes the lead in jurisprudence, al-Muzanī is but a drop from his rain-cloud, and when he speaks, al-Ashʿarī is no more than a single hair from his abundant forelock (2).

Yaḥyā ibn Abī Manṣūr the jurist related to us in his book, through ʿAbd al-Qādir the ḥāfiẓ, who said: Abū al-ʿAlāʾ al-Hamadhānī informed us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar the ḥāfiẓ told me, “I heard Abū al-Maʿālī. He was asked about the verse, ‘The All-Merciful—established upon the Throne’ (Q 20:5), and he replied, ‘Allah was, and there was no Throne.’

He then began to falter, so I said, ‘Do you have any device for dealing with what necessity imposes on us?’

He asked, ‘What do you mean by that remark?’

I said, ‘No gnostic has ever said, “O my Lord!” except that, before his tongue even moves, an inner intention arises that turns neither right nor left—it aims upward. Have you any stratagem for this inborn upward quest, that you might show us how to escape from “above” and “below”?’

I wept, and the people wept. He struck the couch with his sleeve, cried out in bewilderment, tore the garments he was wearing, and the mosque erupted as though it were the Day of Resurrection. As he descended he kept saying, ‘My beloved! Bewilderment, bewilderment; astonishment, astonishment!’ (3)

241 – al-Nasawī, Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad: the erudite scholar, chief of judges, Abū ʿAmr Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad al-Shāfiʿī, the Qurʾānic exegete, author of many works in a variety of disciplines.