in the habit of dyeing his beard with henna, and he always wore a turban while keeping a full beard. Trustworthy informants have reported to me several matters concerning him that do not amount to a karāma (miraculous favor); one of them is his claim to have seen al-Khidr. He died in Rabīʿ al-Ākhir of the year 555 AH.

212 – Al-Burūjirdī, Muḥammad ibn Hibat Allāh ibn al-ʿAlāʾ

The ḥāfiẓ and instructor, Abū al-Faḍl Muḥammad ibn Hibat Allāh ibn al-ʿAlāʾ al-Burūjirdī, a student of Ibn Ṭāhir (1).

He heard ḥadith from Abū Muḥammad al-Dunī, Makkī ibn Bunjīr, and Yaḥyā ibn Mandah.

Al-Samʿānī (2) said: “I was copying manuscripts in the congregational mosque of Burūjird when an elderly man in shabby dress asked, ‘What are you writing?’ Disliking the question, I replied, ‘Hadith.’
‘So you are a seeker?’ he said.
‘Yes,’ I answered.
He asked, ‘Where are you from?’
I said, ‘From Marw.’
He then asked, ‘Which men of Marw did al-Bukhārī transmit from?’
I replied, ‘ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUthmān and Ṣadaqah ibn al-Faḍl.’
He said, ‘Why was ʿAbd Allāh given the sobriquet ʿAbdān?’
I fell silent, at which he smiled. Looking at him afresh I said, ‘Will the shaykh inform me?’
He said, ‘His kunya is Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān and his name is ʿAbd Allāh; since the word ʿabd occurs twice in his names, he was called ʿAbdān.’
I asked, ‘From whom did you hear this?’
He replied, ‘I heard it from Muḥammad ibn Ṭāhir (3).’