and what do you expect me to do with him?’ He then sent him a sum of money and robes of honour, but he would not accept them and immediately departed for Herat.⦗1⦘
He said: I heard our companions in Herat relate that when Sultan Alp Arslan arrived in Herat on one of his journeys, the city’s shaykhs and notables gathered, went in to Abu Ismaʿil, greeted him, and said, ‘The Sultan has come, and we intend to go out and greet him; we wished first to begin by greeting you.’ They had already conspired to take with them a small brass idol, which they placed in the mihrab beneath the Shaykh’s prayer-rug, and then they left. The Shaykh retired to his private chamber, while they went in to the Sultan and pleaded for protection from al-Ansari, claiming that he was a corporealist, that he kept an idol in his prayer-niche and alleged that Allah Most High was in its likeness, and that if the Sultan would send someone at once he would find it.
This weighed heavily upon the Sultan, who dispatched a page and a party of men. They entered, headed straight for the mihrab, seized the idol, and the page flung it down. The Sultan then summoned al-Ansari; he came and saw the idol and the scholars gathered, while the Sultan’s anger had become intense. The Sultan said to him, ‘What is this?’
He replied, ‘A little statue made of brass, like a toy.’
The Sultan said, ‘That is not what I am asking you about.’
He said, ‘Then about what is the Sultan questioning me?’
He said, ‘These people claim that you worship this and that you say Allah is in its likeness.’
Shaykh al-Islam, with a commanding presence and a booming voice, exclaimed, ‘Glory be to You! This is a monstrous slander.’
The Sultan’s heart was convinced that they had lied against him, so he ordered that the Shaykh be escorted back to his house with honour. He then said to them, ‘Tell me the truth,’ and threatened them. They said, ‘We are in tribulation because this man dominates us through the common people, so we wanted to cut off his harm from us.’
He ordered that they be placed under guard, set wardens over them, confiscated their property, exacted payments from them, and humiliated them.⦗2⦘