Abu Bakr ibn Tarkhan informed me; Shaykh Muwaffaq al-Din Abu Muhammad ibn Qudamah narrated to us. When he was asked about Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qadir he said:

“We met him in the last period of his life. He lodged us in his school and personally looked after us. At times he would send his son Yahya to light the lamp for us, and at times he would send us food from his own house. He led us in the obligatory prayers as our imam. Each morning I would recite to him from memory the text of al-Khiraqi, and al-Hafiz ʿAbd al-Ghani would read to him aloud from al-Hidayah. No one else was reading to him at that time except the two of us. We stayed with him for one month and nine days, then he passed away. We performed the funeral prayer for him at night in his school. I have never heard of anyone about whom more wonders are reported, nor have I seen anyone the people venerate for religion more than him. From him we heard only a few fascicles.”

I read in the handwriting of al-Hafiz Sayf al-Din Ibn al-Majd: “Muhammad ibn Mahmud al-Marātibi told me, ‘I heard Shaykh Abu Bakr al-ʿImad—may Allah have mercy on him—say:

“I had been studying in the field of usul al-din (theology), and it planted a doubt in my heart. I said: ‘I will go to the session of Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qadir, for it is said that he speaks to people’s unspoken thoughts.’ I went, and he was already speaking. He said, ‘Our creed is the creed of the righteous predecessors and the Companions.’ I said to myself, ‘He uttered that merely by coincidence.’ He continued, then turned toward my side and repeated the statement. I said inwardly, ‘A preacher may well turn to one side.’ He turned to me a third time and said, ‘O Abu Bakr,’ repeated the statement again, and then added, ‘Stand up—your father has arrived.’ My father had been away, but I rose quickly, and there indeed was my father coming in.”’”

Abu al-Qasim ibn Muhammad the jurist narrated to us; my teacher Jamal al-Din Yahya ibn al-Sayrafi told me; I heard Abu al-Baqaʾ the grammarian say:

“I attended the gathering of Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qadir. In front of him they were chanting with melodic recitation. I said within myself, ‘I wonder why the shaykh does not object to this.’ He said, ‘Here comes a man who has read a few chapters of fiqh and then objects.’ I said inside, ‘Perhaps he means someone other than me.’ He said, ‘It is you I am addressing with this remark.’ So I repented inwardly …”