and several other teachers in Baghdad, as well as Fāṭimah bint ad-Daqqāq in Nishapur.

His three sons transmitted from him, and Abū Saʿd al-Samʿānī heard from all three of them on their father’s authority.

Others who narrated from him include Abū al-Qāsim Ibn ʿAsākir (1) and Maḥmūd ibn al-Faḍl.

Al-Samʿānī said: “He was held up as a model for his dedication to Shaykh al-Islām and for his earnest service to him. He is remembered for many stories and notable episodes connected with the Shaykh’s departure to Balkh during the ordeal. A discussion and exchange took place between him and the vizier Niẓām al-Mulk, and Niẓām (2) graciously tolerated him.

“I also heard that ʿAṭāʾ was taken to the scaffold to be crucified, but Allah spared him because of the purity of his intention. Once released, he went straight back to presenting petitions and never relented. He accompanied Niẓām on foot to the Byzantine frontier, never mounting; he would wade through the rivers alongside the cavalry, saying, ‘My Shaykh is under trial, so I shall not take ease.’

“His son Muḥammad told me, quoting him: ‘I was running in Niẓām’s cortege when one of my sandals fell off. I did not look back; instead, I threw away the other. Niẓām reined in his mount and asked, “Where are your sandals?”

‘“I replied, ‘One fell, and I was afraid you would outpace me if I stopped.’

‘“He said, ‘Why, then, did you throw away the other?’

‘“I answered, ‘Because my Shaykh told us that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—forbade a man to walk wearing only one sandal (3), and I did not want to oppose the Sunnah.’”

“That impressed him, and he said, ‘I shall write—God willing—until your Shaykh returns to Herat.’

“He then said to me, ‘Mount one of the spare horses,’ but I refused. He offered me money, and I refused that as well (4).”