Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (23/54)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

He studied jurisprudence in Bukhara and distinguished himself. Had he begun hearing ḥadīth in his youth, he would have become the leading musnid (senior transmitter) of his age; however, he only took up ḥadīth in middle life, receiving it from: Abū Saʿd ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Ṣaffār, Manṣūr ibn al-Farāwī, the judge Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAlī ibn Ḥamak al-Mughīthī, and al-Muʾayyad al-Ṭūsī.

He narrated the entire Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim.

Among those who reported from him were: Zakī al-Dīn al-Barzalī, Majd al-Dīn Ibn al-ʿAdīm, Ibn al-Ḥulwāniyyah, Ibn al-Ṣābūnī, and Fāṭimah bint Jawhar al-Baṭāʾiḥiyyah (1). By written authorisation (ijāzah) the two qāḍīs al-Khuwayyī and al-Ḥanbalī also transmitted from him.

He taught, debated, issued legal opinions, and many students graduated under him. He settled in Damascus and, in 611 AH, was appointed to teach at the Nūriyyah school. He was inwardly devout, given to worship and piety, and enjoyed remarkable dignity, firm standing, and abundant respect.

He is linked to a quarter of Bukhara where prayer-mats are woven (2).

He passed away on 8 Ṣafar 636 AH at the age of ninety. People crowded around his bier, the jurists carried him on their shoulders—it was a memorable day—and he was buried in the cemetery of the Ṣūfīs.

I have seen his certificate of audition for the whole of Sunan al-Dāraqutnī from al-Ṣaffār in the year 598 AH. In that same year he also heard the Muwaṭṭaʾ of Abū Muṣʿab from the Chief Judge al-Mughīthī. I have likewise seen the signatures of Manṣūr al-Farāwī and al-Muʾayyad al-Ṭūsī attesting to his audition from them of Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim in 603 AH; both scholars praised him highly and venerated him.

(1) She was one of al-Dhahabi’s female teachers; she received from him a reading of Sahih Muslim. Her name was Fatima bint Ibrahim. (2) The base manuscript reads: “fihi” (in it).

وَتَفَقَّهَ بِبُخَارَى وَبَرَعَ، وَلَوْ أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ فِي صِبَاهُ لَصَارَ مُسْنِدَ زَمَانِهِ، وَلَكِنَّهُ سَمِعَ فِي الكُهُوْلَةِ مِنْ: أَبِي سَعْدٍ عَبْدِ اللهِ بنِ عُمَرَ ابْنِ الصَّفَّارِ، وَمَنْصُوْرِ ابْنِ الفُرَاوِيِّ، وَالقَاضِي إِبْرَاهِيْم بنِ عَلِيِّ بنِ حَمَكَ المُغِيْثِيِّ، وَالمُؤَيَّدِ الطُّوْسِيِّ. وَحَدَّثَ بِـ (صَحِيْحِ مُسْلِمٍ) . رَوَى عَنْهُ: زَكِيُّ الدِّيْنِ البِرْزَالِيُّ، وَمَجْدُ الدِّيْنِ ابْنُ العَدِيْمِ، وَابْنُ الحُلوَانِيَّةِ، وَابْنُ الصَّابُوْنِيِّ، وَفَاطِمَةُ بِنْتُ جَوْهَرٍ البَطَائِحِيَّةُ (١) . وَبِالإِجَازَةِ القَاضِيَانِ: الخُوَيِّيّ، وَالحَنْبَلِيُّ. دَرَّسَ، وَنَاظَرَ، وَأَفتَى، وَتَخَرَّجَ بِهِ الأَصْحَابُ، وَسَكَنَ دِمَشْقَ، وَوَلِيَ تَدرِيسَ النُّورِيَةِ فِي سَنَةِ إِحْدَى عَشْرَةَ وَسِتِّ مائَةٍ، وَكَانَ يَنطَوِي عَلَى دِيْنٍ وَعِبَادَةٍ وَتَقْوَى، وَلَهُ جَلاَلَةٌ عَجِيْبَةٌ، وَمَنْزِلَةٌ مَكِيْنَةٌ، وَحُرْمَةٌ وَافِرَةٌ. وَهُوَ مَنْسُوْبٌ إِلَى مَحلَّةٍ بِبُخَارَى يَنسجُوْنَ الْحصْر فِيْهَا (٢) . تُوُفِّيَ: فِي ثَامنِ صَفَرٍ، سَنَةَ سِتٍّ وَثَلاَثِيْنَ وَسِتِّ مائَةٍ، وَلَهُ تِسْعُوْنَ سَنَةً، وَازْدَحَمَ الخَلْقُ عَلَى نَعْشِهِ، وَحَمَلَهُ الفُقَهَاءُ عَلَى الرُّؤُوسِ، وَكَانَ يَوْماً مَشْهُوْداً، وَدُفِنَ بِمقَابِرِ الصُّوْفِيَّةِ. رَأَيْتُ سَمَاعَهُ لِجَمِيْعِ (سُنَنِ الدَّارَقُطْنِيّ) مِنَ الصَّفَّارِ فِي سَنَةِ ثَمَانٍ وَتِسْعِيْنَ. وَفِيْهَا سَمِعَ مِنْ قَاضِي القُضَاةِ المُغِيْثيّ (مُوَطَّأَ أَبِي مُصْعَبٍ) ، وَرَأَيْتُ خَطَّ مَنْصُوْرٍ الفُرَاوِيِّ وَخَطَّ المُؤَيَّدِ الطُّوْسِيِّ لَهُ بِسَمَاعِهِ مِنْهُمَا لِـ (صَحِيْحِ مُسْلِمٍ) سَنَةَ ٦٠٣، وَعَظَّمَاهُ وَفَخَّمَاهُ.

(١) هي من شيخات الذهبي، وقد سمعت منه صحيح مسلم، وهي فاطمة بنت إبراهيم. (٢) في الأصل: " فيه ".