He was a ḥāfiẓ (hadith master), a prolific and trustworthy transmitter, the author of numerous works, of admirable conduct and free from affectation—indeed the unrivalled member of his household in his day. He granted me an ijāza. (1)
I asked the ḥāfiẓ Ismāʿīl about him; he praised him highly and described him as possessing outstanding memorisation, knowledge, and insight. I also heard the ḥāfiẓ Muḥammad ibn Abī Naṣr al-Laftuwānī say, “The house of the Banū Manda began with Yaḥyā and ended with Yaḥyā.” (2)
He died in Dhū al-Ḥijjah 511 AH. (3)
- Al-Mustazhir bi-Allah, Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn al-Muqtaḍī bi-Amr Allah*
He is the imām, Commander of the Faithful, Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad, son of al-Muqtaḍī bi-Amr Allah Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allah, son of “al-Dhakhīrah” Muḥammad, son of al-Qāʾim bi-Amr Allah ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Qādir—the Hāshimī, the ʿAbbāsī, the Baghdadi.
Birth: Shawwāl 470 AH.
He acceded to the caliphate on the death of his father, 19 Muḥarram, at the age of sixteen years and three months; this was in 487 AH.