and hadith, and his Tafsīr runs to three volumes (1). He also penned al-Istilām, which became famous across the regions; the book al-Qawāṭiʿ (2) on uṣūl al-fiqh (legal theory); al-Intiṣār bi-l-Athar (3), a rebuttal of the dissenters; al-Minhāj li-Ahl al-Sunnah (The Methodology for the People of the Sunnah); a book entitled al-Qadar (Divine Decree); and he dictated ninety majlis-sessions.​

I heard someone relate on the authority of my grandfather’s fellow traveller on the ḥajj, Ḥusayn ibn Ḥasan, who said:

“We hired a donkey on which Imām Abū al-Muẓaffar rode to Kharaq, a village three parasangs from Marw. When we dismounted I said, ‘We have only one earthenware jug; should we not buy another?’ He produced five dirhams and said, ‘Ḥusayn, this is all I possess. Take it, buy what you need, and do not ask me for anything else thereafter.’

“So we set out with nothing but the essentials, and Allah opened the way for us (4).”

I also heard Shahrdār ibn Shīrawayh relate: I heard Manṣūr ibn Aḥmad, whom my father questioned, say:

“I heard Abū al-Muẓaffar al-Samʿānī say, ‘I used to follow the Ḥanafī school, but my mind changed. I set out for the pilgrimage, and when I reached Sāmarrāʾ (5) I saw the Lord of Might in a dream. He said to me, “Return to Us, O Abū al-Muẓaffar.” I awoke and understood that He meant the Shāfiʿī school, so I returned to it (6).’”