Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (20/563)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Abu al-Hasan ibn Qubays (1) said to him, “I hope that Allah will revive this discipline through you.”

My father also told me: “One day I was reading to Abu al-Fath al-Mukhtār ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd while he was conversing with a gathering, and he said:
‘Abu ʿAlī ibn al-Wazīr came to us, and we declared, “We have never seen anyone like him.”
Then Abu Saʿd al-Samʿānī came to us, and again we declared, “We have never seen anyone like him.”
Then this man came to us, and we have never seen his equal.’ (2)

Al-Qāsim said: Abu al-Hasan ʿAlī ibn Ibrāhīm al-Anṣārī al-Ḥanbalī related to me, quoting Abu al-Hasan Saʿd al-Khayr: ‘I have never seen anyone of the same age as Abu al-Qāsim the ḥāfiẓ (hadith master) who was his peer.’ (3)

Al-Tāj Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Masʿūdī narrated to us: “I heard the ḥāfiẓ Abu al-ʿAlāʾ al-Hamadhānī (4) say to one of his students—who had sought permission to travel:
‘If you can identify a teacher more knowledgeable than I (5) or even my equal in virtue, then I will grant you leave to journey to him—unless you intend to travel to the ḥāfiẓ Ibn ʿAsākir, for he is a ḥāfiẓ in the truest sense.’

I asked, ‘Who is this ḥāfiẓ?’

He replied, ‘The ḥāfiẓ of Syria, Abu al-Qāsim, who resides in Damascus…,’ and he lavished praise upon him.

His name was also mentioned in the presence of his shaykh’s son, the preacher Abu

(1) He is one of the author’s teachers cited in the Tarikh, where Ibn Asakir says: “He informed us, Abu al-Hasan.” This refers to Abu al-Hasan ʿAli ibn Ahmad ibn Mansur ibn Qubays al-Ghassani al-Maliki, whose biography appeared earlier in the present volume under no. 9. He is also among the teachers through whom Tarikh Baghdad is transmitted. (2) Cf. Tadhkirat al-huffaz, vol. 4, p. 1331; Muʿjam al-udaba, vol. 13, pp. 83–84; and Subki, Tabaqat, vol. 7, p. 217. (3) Cf. Tadhkirat al-huffaz, vol. 4, p. 1331. (4) His biography will appear in volume 21. (5) The words enclosed in brackets have been supplied from Subki, Tabaqat, vol. 7, p. 218 to preserve the flow of the text. Tadhkirat al-huffaz reads: “If you know anyone better than me.” In Ibn Asakir’s work (p. 37) the word “or” is omitted without any notice.

قَالَ لَهُ أَبُو الحَسَنِ بنُ قُبَيْس (١) : أَرْجُو أَنْ يُحِيي الله بِك هَذَا الشَّأْن. وَحَدَّثَنِي أَبِي، قَالَ: كُنْتُ يَوْماً أَقرَأُ عَلَى أَبِي الفَتْحِ المُخْتَار بن عَبْدِ الحَمِيْدِ وَهُوَ يَتحدّث مَعَ الجَمَاعَة، فَقَالَ: قَدِمَ عَلَيْنَا أَبُو عَلِيٍّ بنُ الوَزِيْر، فَقُلْنَا: مَا رَأَينَا مِثْله. ثُمَّ قَدِمَ عَلَيْنَا أَبُو سَعْدٍ السَّمْعَانِيُّ، فَقُلْنَا: مَا رَأَينَا مِثْله. حَتَّى قَدِمَ عَلَيْنَا هَذَا، فَلَمْ نَر مِثْله (٢) . قَالَ القَاسِم: وَحَكَى لِي أَبُو الحَسَنِ عَلِيُّ بنُ إِبْرَاهِيْمَ الأَنْصَارِيّ الحَنْبَلِيّ، عَنْ أَبِي الحَسَنِ سَعْد الخَيْر، قَالَ: مَا رَأَيْتُ فِي سنِّ أَبِي القَاسِمِ الحَافِظ مِثْله (٣) . وَحَدَّثَنَا التَّاج مُحَمَّد بن عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ المَسْعُوْدِيّ، سَمِعْتُ الحَافِظَ أَبَا العَلاَءِ الهَمَذَانِيّ (٤) يَقُوْلُ لبَعْض تَلاَمِذته - وَقَدِ اسْتَأَذنه أَنْ يَرحل - فَقَالَ: إِنْ عَرَفْت أُسْتَاذاً أَعْلَم مِنِّي (٥) أَوْ فِي الفَضْلِ مِثْلِي، فَحِيْنَئِذٍ آذنُ إِلَيْك أَنْ تُسَافر إِلَيْهِ، اللَّهُمَّ إِلاَّ أَنْ تُسَافر إِلَى الحَافِظ ابْن عَسَاكِرَ، فَإِنَّهُ حَافِظ كَمَا يَجِبُ. فَقُلْتُ: مَنْ هَذَا الحَافِظُ؟ فَقَالَ: حَافِظ الشَّامِ أَبُو القَاسِمِ، يَسكنُ دِمَشْق ... ، وَأَثْنَى عَلَيْهِ. وَكَانَ يَجرِي ذِكْرُهُ عِنْد ابْن شَيْخه وَهُوَ الخَطِيْب أَبُو

(١) وهو من شيوخه الذين يروي عنهم في " تاريخ "، فيقول: أخبرنا أبو الحسن، وهو أبو الحسن علي بن أحمد بن منصور بن قبيس الغساني المالكي، تقدمت ترجمته في هذا الجزء برقم (٩) وهو أحد الشيوخ الذين يروي " تاريخ بغداد " من طريقهم. (٢) انظر " تذكرة الحفاظ ٤ / ١٣٣١، و" معجم الأدباء " ١٣ / ٨٣، ٨٤، و" طبقات " السبكي ٧ / ٢١٧. (٣) انظر " تذكرة الحفاظ " ٤ / ١٣٣١. (٤) ستأتي ترجمته في الجزء الحادي والعشرين. (٥) ما بين حاصرتين مستدرك من " طبقات " السبكي ٧ / ٢١٨ ليصح السياق. وفي " تذكرة الحفاظ ": إن عرفت أحدا أفضل مني. وقد حذف في كتاب " ابن عساكر " ص ٣٧ لفظ " أو " دونما إشارة إلى ذلك.