until he caught up with him. He then spoke to him and related his whole story; when he had finished—explaining that he had once been a king who had fled out of fear of Allah—the overseer said, “I believe I shall join you.”
So he did, and the two of them worshipped Allah together until they died at Ramlah in Egypt.
ʿAbd Allah said, “Had I been there, I would have found their graves by the description the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, gave.” (1)
This is a singular hadith with an elevated chain.
Al-Samʿani said: ʿAbd al-Qadir was from Jilan, the imam of the Hanbalis and their leading shaykh in his age—learned, righteous, devout, and virtuous; much engaged in remembrance, constantly reflective, and quick to tears. He studied under al-Mukharrimi and kept company with Shaykh Hammad al-Dabbas. He lived at Bab al-Azaj in a school built for him. We went to visit him; he came out, sat among his disciples, and they completed a recitation of the Qur’an. He then delivered a lesson from which I understood nothing. More astonishing still, his disciples rose and repeated the lesson, so perhaps they grasped it because they were accustomed to his style and expression. (2)
Ibn al-Jawzi (3) said: Abu Saʿd al-Mukharrimi had built a small school at Bab al-Azaj, which was entrusted to ʿAbd al-Qadir. He addressed the people in the language of admonition, and his fame for asceticism spread. He possessed dignified bearing and silence. When the school became overcrowded, he would sit by the wall of Baghdad, leaning against the ribat, and many people would repent in his gatherings. The school was later rebuilt and expanded, and the common folk showed great enthusiasm for it. He remained there, teaching and exhorting, until he passed away.