54 – ʿAbdūs ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdūs al-Rūdhbārī *
A distinguished and meticulous imām, the leading shaykh of Hamadhān, Abū al-Fatḥ al-Rūdhbārī—Persian by origin, later a Hamadhānī—he was the city’s senior authority and possessed its loftiest chains of transmission.
He was born in 395 AH.
He heard hadith from his grand-uncle ʿAlī ibn ʿAbdūs; Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥamdawayh, the companion of Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Aṣamm; Abū Ṭāhir al-Ḥusayn ibn Salamah; al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad ibn Manjawayh; Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā al-Muḥtasib; Rāfiʿ ibn Muḥammad the judge, and a number of others.
He also held a sound ijāzah (authorization) from Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn Lāl, Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Sulamī, and the Shaykh of the Ḥaram, Abū al-Ḥasan ibn Jahḍam.
…he died a king in this world and a king in the Hereafter.
In Ibn Aqil’s own hand we read: “As for Nizam, his life dazzled minds by its generosity, largesse, dignity, and his revival of the landmarks of religion. He built madrasahs and endowed them; he invigorated learning and its people; he renovated the two sanctuaries; he established libraries and bought books. Thus, in his days the market of knowledge flourished and scholars held their heads high before the men of this world. What do you think of a man whom Time itself protected, for he showered benefactions that satisfied the people? They had blamed Time for the straitness of their livelihoods and the disorder of their affairs, but when his kindness became all-embracing they fell silent and ceased reviling their age.”
Shibl al-Dawla Muqatil b. Atiyya elegized him in these verses:
“The vizier Nizam al-Mulk was a peerless pearl, / a solitary gem the Compassionate fashioned from noble essence. / So precious was she that the days never knew her worth; / out of jealousy He returned her to the oyster shell.”
Al-Subki, Tabaqat, 4/318-319, reproduces Ibn Aqil’s statement from his work al-Funun.
Sources: Dhayl Tarikh Baghdad 1/426-430; al-Ibar 3/329; Uyoon al-Tawarikh 13/79-80 (reading ‘Abd b. ‘Abd Allah); Shadharat al-Dhahab 3/395.