from him were Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Zarqūn and a number of others. (1) He passed away in 517 AH, and his forefather Abū Talīd was among those who travelled for knowledge and heard hadith from al-Nasāʾī.
300 – al-Ḥulwānī, Abū Saʿd Yaḥyā ibn ʿAlī
The distinguished scholar Abū Saʿd Yaḥyā ibn ʿAlī al-Ḥulwānī, a Shāfiʿī, author of the book al-Talwīḥ on the school. (2) He was one of the senior students of Shaykh Abū Isḥāq, remained in his company for some time, and was counted among the foremost debaters. He narrated from Abū Jaʿfar ibn al-Muslama and others.
Abū Saʿd al-Samʿānī said: “He came to Merv as an envoy to Khāqān, (3) the ruler of Transoxiana. I heard a fascicle of hadith from him. He was ill-tempered, arrogant, and difficult to deal with. He died in Samarqand, in Ramadan of the year 520 AH.”
(1) Ibn Bashkuwal, 2/610, says: “He was a jurist who issued formal legal opinions in his city, a man of letters and poetry, pious and virtuous.” He then quoted these verses of his:
My state with the changing days
Is that of a bird whose leg is trapped in a snare;
All its striving is to ransom its own life,
Yet the more it struggles, the tighter the bonds.
(*) Al-Ansab, 4/192; Tarikh al-Islam, 4:244/1–245/1; Al-Subki, Tabaqat, 7/333–334; Al-Isnawi, Tabaqat, 1/432; Kashf al-zunun, 482; Hadiyat al-arifin, 2/520.
(2) As recorded in Tabaqat, 7/333, he was first appointed to the post of hisba (market inspector) in Baghdad, then dismissed from it and made professor at the Nizamiyya.
(3) The person meant is Muhammad ibn Sulayman, whom the Commander of the Faithful al-Mustarshid bi-llah had dispatched to him.