al-Khall—he is (1) al-Mubarak ibn Abi al-Barakat.
He was born a few years after 500 AH.
He heard hadith from Hibatu’llah ibn al-Husayn and from the Judge of the Maristan.
Ahmad ibn Ahmad al-Bandaniji and others transmitted from him.
Because he had tutored the sons of the Caliph al-Nasir li-Din Allah, he enjoyed considerable rank and esteem.
Ibn al-Najjar said: He gave testimony before the Chief Judge Abu al-Qasim al-Zaynabi in the year 530 AH; thereafter he taught in the school of his shaykh, Ibn al-Khall, after him (2), then (3) he assumed charge of the Nizamiyya in 581 AH (4).
He was the imam of his age in knowledge, religion, asceticism, and scrupulousness. He kept close company with Ibn al-Khall until he excelled in the Shafiʿi school and in juridical disputation … until Ibn al-Najjar added:
He was famed for piety, renunciation, chastity, integrity, and dignified bearing; he was also the most accomplished calligrapher of his time in the style of Ibn al-Bawwab, and al-Zahir bi-Amr Allah employed his exquisite hand.
(1) The pronoun refers to the biographee himself; we state this lest the reader suppose it points to Ibn al-Khall.
As for Abu al-Hasan Ibn al-Khall, he is Muhammad b. al-Mubarak b. Muhammad al-Akbari (d. 552 AH/1157 CE), one of the foremost Shafi‘i jurists. He is mentioned by Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Muntazam 10/179; Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil 11/88; al-Dhahabi, among other works al-Ibr 4/150; al-Subki, Tabaqat 6/176; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya 12/237; al-Badr al-‘Ayni, ‘Aqd al-Juman 16, fol. 293, and others.
(2) The school in question is also called the Kamaliyya, after its founder Kamal al-Din Abu l-Futuh Hamza b. ‘Ali, known as Ibn al-Baqshalam (or al-Baqshalan), who died in 556 AH/1161 CE. Ibn al-Khall was appointed there as lecturer, so the institution was likewise identified with his name; see Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Muntazam 10/179, 199, 203, and the sources cited in the previous note on Ibn al-Khall.
(3) Before that he had also taught at the Thiqatiyya school, situated on the Tigris below the caliphal palace, named after Thiqatu al-Dawla Ibn al-Dirini (d. 549 AH/1154 CE); consult al-Mundhiri’s Takmila and our annotations thereto.
(4) He remained its professor until his death.