and was a ruthless shedder of blood, possessed of sharp cunning, and held sway over the emirs. Majd al-Din Ibn al-Athir kept close company with him, urging him toward what is right, and the ruler would comply. He also promoted his mamluk Luluʾ to be the superintendent of his palace.
257 – al-Juzuli, Abu Musa ʿIsa ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz*
The leading grammarian, Abu Musa ʿIsa ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz ibn Yalalbakht ⦗1⦘ ibn ʿIsa al-Yazdakanti ⦗2⦘, known as al-Juzuli, the Berber from Marrakesh.
He performed the pilgrimage and attached himself to Ibn Barri, from whom he mastered Arabic and its sciences. He heard Sahih al-Bukhari from Abu Muhammad ibn ʿUbayd Allah, taught in al-Mariyya and elsewhere, and many eminent scholars graduated under him.
He was an unparalleled authority; bright students devoted themselves to his Muqaddima and produced commentaries on it.
He died in Azemmur—an area under Marrakesh—in 607 AH, though some say 606.
He also held the Friday pulpit of Marrakesh. While seeking knowledge in Egypt he was poor, going out to the villages to lead them in prayer. In Egypt he adopted the Maliki school at the hands of the jurist Zafir. I have given a fuller account of him in my History ⦗3⦘.
Others say he lived on until 610.