and he looked more like a grand vizier than a scholar, and from the pulpit he would relate hadith entirely from memory.(1)

Ibn al-Jawzi(2) said: “He arrived, was appointed to teach at the Nizamiyya, and I attended one of his debates. He uttered only a few words, yet each was a pearl. He preached in the palace congregational mosque, never digressing in his exhortations, and he was awe-inspiring, ringed by swords.”

Al-Samʿānī added: “He traveled to Isfahan, stopped in a village near Hamadhan, lay down in perfect health, and was found dead the next morning—in Shawwal of the year 552 AH.”

Ibn al-Athir(3) said: “His death sparked unrest, and many people were killed in Isfahan.”

261 – Ibn al-Mutawakkil, Abū ʿAlī al-Hasan ibn Jaʿfar al-Hāshimī

The shaykh, Abū ʿAlī al-Hasan(4) ibn Jaʿfar ibn ʿAbd al-Ṣamad, a descendant of al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allah, of the Hāshimite ʿAbbāsid line.

He heard hadith from Abū Ghalib al-Bāqillānī, ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-ʿAllāf, and others.

Transmitters from him include al-Samʿānī, ʿAbd al-Mughīth ibn Zuhayr, and Abū al-Munajjā ibn al-Lattī; he was known by the honorific Bahāʾ al-Sharaf.

Al-Samʿānī said: “He possessed a sound knowledge of literature and poetry, and he was a righteous man.”