and he had a broad command of grammar and the Arabic language. A debate arose between him and the vizier Ibn Hubayra over the Prophet’s supplication, peace and blessings be upon him, on the Day of Badr—“If this band is destroyed (1)”—and the correct view was his.
I add: he argued with the vizier vehemently and cornered him, until the vizier exclaimed, “You are raving! What you say is not correct.”
The assembly then dispersed, after which the vizier apologized to him in every possible way, sent him money, and did not let him depart until he had repeated to him the very words he had earlier uttered (2).
Ibn ʿAsakir said: He used to serve as scribe to the ruler of the Maghrib. When that ruler died, he became fearful and moved away. Sultan Nūr al-Dīn in Aleppo then assigned him a sufficient stipend, after which he performed the pilgrimage.
He died at al-Labwah in Shawwal, 561 AH (3).
295 – Ibn al-Māsih, ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ḥasan al-Kilābī*
The eminent scholar, the adornment of the imams, Abū al-Qāsim ʿAlī, son of Abū al-Faḍāʾil al-Ḥasan
(1) A passage from a longer hadith recorded from Umar by Muslim (no. 1763), Ahmad 1/30 and 1/32, and al-Tirmidhi (3081). On the day of Badr the Messenger of Allah looked at the polytheists—about one thousand—while his Companions numbered three hundred and nineteen. He then faced the qibla, raised his hands and kept imploring his Lord: “O Allah, fulfil for me what You have promised! O Allah, grant me what You have promised! O Allah, if this small band of Muslims is destroyed, You will no longer be worshipped on earth.” He continued his supplication, hands outstretched toward the qibla, until his cloak slipped from his shoulders. Abu Bakr came, picked up the cloak, placed it back on him, embraced him from behind and said, “O Prophet of Allah, that is enough entreaty of your Lord; He will certainly carry out what He promised you.” Then Allah revealed: “idh tastaʿithuna rabbakum fa-istajāba lakum annī mumiddukum bi-alfin mina al-malāʾikati murdifīn” (“When you called upon your Lord for help, He answered, ‘I will reinforce you with a thousand angels in succession,’” Q 8:9), and Allah strengthened him with the angels …
(2) See Inbaʾ al-ruwāt, 2/139, and the biography of Ibn Hubayra above, no. 282.
(3) He was buried outside the Hims Gate, north of Baalbek. See Inbaʾ al-ruwāt, 2/140-141. Al-Qifti states that he produced a book refining al-Mubarrad’s Al-Ishtiqāq; I have seen it and he did an excellent job, and I possess the autograph.
(*) Sources: Inbaʾ al-ruwāt, 2/241-242; al-Dhahabi, Tarikh al-Islam (deaths of 562 A.H.); Ibn al-Jazari, Maʿrifat al-qurrāʾ al-kibār.