he eulogized him in a poem (1), affirmed that his writings had surpassed one thousand works (2), and was unsparing in listing the faults of those who maligned him—such as the amir Sayf al-Din Tankiz (3), the viceroy of Syria.

The love and admiration that his two companions felt for Ibn Taymiyya were no less than al-Dhahabi’s. Indeed, al-Mizzi—though the elder of the group—was perhaps the most devoted and admiring of all (4).

Although al-Dhahabi disagreed with his companion and shaykh “in both fundamental and secondary questions” (5) and even sent him his Golden Counsel (6), in which he reproached him and criticised certain views of his and of his followers, he was nonetheless undeniably influenced by him to a great extent. Taj al-Din al-Subki (d. 771 AH) observed: “This circle—al-Mizzi, al-Dhahabi, and al-Barzali—was clearly harmed by Abu al-ʿAbbas Ibn Taymiyya; he burdened them with weighty matters that were far from trivial, and dragged them toward issues from which it would have been better for them to keep their distance” (7).

This close bond among the companions, and the path they chose for themselves in embracing the Hanbali positions to which they inclined, often led to their being harmed and subjected to hostility by