He went on: “I was told that he once came upon a band of openly sinful men. He smashed the objects they had with them, so they beat him until he lost consciousness. The governor wanted to punish them, but he said, ‘If they repent and keep up the prayer, then do not harm them; they are absolved.’ Thereupon they repented.

Al-Diyaʾ said: I heard my uncle, Muwaffaq al-Din, remark, ‘For as long as I have known him—meaning al-ʿImad—I never knew him to disobey Allah in a single matter.’

I also heard Imam Mahasin ibn ʿAbd al-Malik (1) say, ‘Shaykh al-ʿImad was the jewel of his age.’

Al-Diyaʾ then added, ‘From my earliest youth I knew that everyone in the mountain region who was studying the Qur’an would recite to al-ʿImad, and many completed their entire reading with him. He used to send financial assistance to people in secret, he would win the heart of every student, and a cheerful countenance never left him.’

Shaykh, the Qur’an-reciter ʿAbd Allah ibn Hasan al-Hakkari of Harran (2) related to me: ‘In my sleep I saw someone say to me, “Al-ʿImad is one of the abdāl (righteous ‘substitutes’).” I saw the same dream for five consecutive nights.’

And I heard Taqi Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hafiz (3) say: ‘I saw Shaykh al-ʿImad in a dream, mounted on a horse. I asked, “My master, shaykh, where are you headed?” He replied, “I am going to visit al-Jabbār (the Compeller).”’

Abu al-Muzaffar says in al-Mirʾah (4): ‘Shaykh al-ʿImad used to attend my gathering…’