Al-Samʿānī said: After his death he was seen in a dream, and he declared, “Allah forgave me because I taught the children the Fātiḥa.”
He died in Muharram of the year 499 AH.
In that same year there also died: Abū al-Faḍl Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Munʿim ibn al-Kuraydī in Damascus; Abū Saʿd ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ṣādiq al-Ḥīrī; Abū al-Fawāris ʿUmar ibn al-Mubārak al-Ḥurfī, the market inspector; Abū Nuʿaym Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Wāsiṭī, known as Ibn al-Jammārī (1); Abū al-Barakāt Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Wakīl, the Qurʾān-reciter; and Abū al-Baqāʾ al-Ḥabbāl.
138 – Muhārash ibn Mujallī ibn ʿUkayth, Abū al-Ḥārith*
The emir, Abū al-Ḥārith, protector of the faith, was one of the prominent Arab leaders (2) of ʿĀna and al-Ḥadītha (3). He was known for his piety, generosity, prayer, and good works. He gave asylum to the caliph al-Qāʾim bi-Amri llāh during the revolt of al-Basāsīrī (4), sheltering him under his protection for a full year until he returned to
(1) Ibn Nuqtah vocalises the name with a dumma on the jīm, a doubled mīm, followed by an alif and a raa’ with kasra. Al-Salafi relates in his Su’alāt to Khamis al-Hawzi (p. 30) that the man narrated the Musnad of Musaddad and judged him reliable.
(*) Principal sources: al-Muntazam, 9/148; al-Kamil by Ibn al-Athir, 10/416; Wafayat al-Ayan, 5/269 (entry on al-Muqallad b. al-Musayyab) and 1/193 (entry on al-Basasiri); Uyoon al-Tawarikh, 13/153; al-Bidaya, 12/166; al-Nujum al-Zahira, 5/193.
(2) One of the amirs of Banu Uqayl.
(3) Aanah is a few parasangs from al-Anbar, overlooking the Euphrates. Near it lies the town of al-Hadithah, also called Hadithat al-Furat and Hadithat al-Nura; in mid-river stands a strong fortress completely surrounded by water.
(4) This is Arslan b. Abd Allah Abu al-Harith al-Basasiri—the nisba goes back to the town of Basa (in Arabic Fasa, but Persians pronounce it Basa). His biography appeared in vol. 18, no. 70. He served as commander of the Turks in Baghdad, and is said to have been a mamluk of Baha al-Dawla b. ‘Adud al-Dawla b. Buwayh. The caliph al-Qa’im bi-Amr Allah put him in charge of all the Turks and entrusted him with the whole administration, having the khutba pronounced in his name throughout Iraq and Khuzistan; his power grew and kings feared him. Later he became overbearing, rebelled against the imam al-Qa’im in 450 AH, and transferred the khutba to the Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir al-Ubaydi…