Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (19/247)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

to whom people would travel from distant lands. He himself made a journey to Isfahan, where he heard hadith from Abu Bakr ibn Ridhah and Abu Tahir ibn ʿAbd al-Rahim; my father took me to one of his gatherings (1). His own father used to narrate from Abu Tahir al-Mukhlis.”

I say: He also heard from his father, from Abu Hassan al-Muzakki, and from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Harith the grammarian. He granted ijazah to everyone who lived to meet him. He was from the village of Kunabadh, which was Arabised to Junabadh; it lies in Quhistan, a large district belonging to Nishapur. He used to travel to various regions as a mudarabah trader, but when he grew old he withdrew and devoted himself exclusively to transmitting hadith. His output was copious; he linked the grandchildren to the grandfathers, and his fame spread far and wide. Everyone who could crawl or walk heard from him. None of his faculties declined—only his eyesight weakened. He also received narration from Abu ʿAbd Allah ibn Bakuwayh (2).

Al-Fadl ibn ʿAbd al-Wahid al-Isfahani said: “I heard the chief al-Thaqafi say, ‘May God bring no one from Khurasan except Abu Bakr al-Shirawi, for he is the best of them and the most beneficial.’”

Al-Samʿani said: I heard a great deal from him—over a span of three years—and from him

(1) Al-Tahbir, 1/446, records: “We received many narrations from him while I was only three and a half years old. Most of the audition certificates are in my late father’s hand; he would write his own name first, then add: ‘and his son Abu-l-Muzhaffar ʿAbd al-Wahhab (i.e. my brother) attended, and his brother Abu Saʿd ʿAbd al-Karim was also present.’ There were twenty months between my brother and me …” (2) Al-Tahbir, 1/464, describes him as “an exceptionally long-lived shaykh, sound in judgement, distinguished, pious, trustworthy and chaste, belonging to a family renowned for righteousness, hadith scholarship, trade, integrity and uprightness. He was counted among the most reliable merchants and the most honest of men, spending his life in commerce: he would travel with other people’s goods, manage them faithfully and earn profits for them until old age prevented him from travelling. Thereafter he remained at home, devoted himself to transmitting hadith, compiled useful selections, and was blessed in this work, so that he taught for nearly forty years. Virtually everyone—young and old—heard from him; he entered and left Nishapur repeatedly, and in the isnad of al-Asamm he linked together both grandchildren and grandfathers.”

رُحِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِنَ البِلاَدِ، وَقَدِ ارْتَحَلَ إِلَى أَصْبَهَانَ، وَسَمِعَ مِنْ: أَبِي بَكْرٍ بنِ رِيْذَةَ، وَأَبِي طَاهِرٍ بنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحِيْمِ، حَضَّرنِي أَبِي مَجْلِسَه (١) ، وَكَانَ وَالِدُهُ يَرْوِي عَنْ أَبِي طَاهِر المُخَلِّص. قُلْتُ: وَسَمِعَ مِنْ: أَبِيْهِ، وَمِنْ أَبِي حَسَّانٍ المُزَكِّي، وَأَحْمَدَ بنِ مُحَمَّدِ بنِ الحَارِثِ النَّحْوِيّ، وَأَجَازَ لِمَنْ أَدْرَكَ حيَاته، وَهُوَ مِنْ قَرْيَة كُونَابَذ، وَعُرِّبَتْ فَقِيْلَ لَهَا: جُنَابَذ، وَهِيَ مِنْ قُهُسْتَان نَاحِيَة كَبِيْرَة مِنْ أَعْمَالِ نَيْسَابُوْر، وَكَانَ يَتَّجِرُ إِلَى البِلاَد مُضَاربَةً، ثُمَّ كَبِرَ وَانقطَعَ لِتَسمِيْعِ الحَدِيْث، وَكَانَ مُكْثِراً، أَلحقَ الأَحفَادَ بِالأَجدَادِ، وَبَعُدَ صِيتُه، وَسَمِعَ مِنْهُ مَنْ دَبَّ وَدَرَجَ، وَلَمْ تَتَغَيَّرْ حَوَاسُّه، بَلْ ضَعُفَ بَصَرُهُ، وَسَمِعَ أَيْضاً مِنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللهِ بنِ بَاكُويه (٢) . قَالَ الفَضْلُ بنُ عبد الوَاحِد الأَصْبَهَانِيّ: سَمِعْتُ الرَّئِيْسَ الثَّقَفِيّ يَقُوْلُ: لاَ جَاءَ الله مِنْ خُرَاسَان بِأَحدٍ إِلاَّ بِأَبِي بَكْرٍ الشِّيرَوِي، فَإِنَّهُ أَخْيَرُهُم، وَأَنْفَعُهُم. قَالَ السَّمْعَانِيّ: سَمِعْتُ مِنْهُ الكَثِيْر، وَلِي ثَلاَثُ سِنِيْنَ، وَسَمِعَ مِنْهُ

(١) وقال في التحبير: ١ / ٤٤٦: وسمعنا منه الكثير، وكنت أبن ثلاث سنين ونصف، وأكثر التسميعات مثبتة بخط والدي ﵀، كان يكتب في السماع عنه اسم نفسه، ثم يقول: وحضر ابنه أبو المظفر عبد الوهاب يعني أخي، وأحضر أخوه أبو سعد عبد الكريم، وكان بيني وبين أخي عشرون شهرا ... (٢) في " التحبير ": ١ / ٤٦٤: شيخ معمر سديد، نبيل، صالح، ثقة، عفيف، من بيت الصلاح والحديث والتجارة والعفاف والسداد، وكان من جملة ثقات التجار وأمناء الرجال، زجى عمره فيه، وكان يخرج ويحمل معه بضائع الناس، ويحسن القيام بها لامانته، ويرزق عليها الارباح إلى أن عجز عن الخروج إلى السفر، فلزم بيته، واشتغل برواية الحديث، وخرج له الفوائد، وبورك له فيه حتى روى الحديث، وحدث نحو أربعين سنة، وسمع منه كل من دب ودرج، ودخل نيسابور وخرج، وألحق الاحفاد والاجداد في إسناد الأصم ...