sandals. On one occasion he expressed a wish for a Qusi cloak, and he did not pass away (1) before seven of them had been sent to him.”

Yahya ibn Yahya al-Naysaburi sent him a gift. In Jaʿfar’s own handwriting it is recorded: “Our trustworthy shaykhs related that he sold what remained of that gift for eighty thousand.”

Abu ʿAmr said, “He left in ready cash (2) two thousand six hundred and twenty-seven dinars, and one thousand dirhams.”

I say: This Imām was counted among the eminent and blessed, the masters of the scholars—possessed of dignity, elegance, servants, a distinguished house, manifest bounty, and high standing in this world and the next. He would accept gifts, eat wholesome food, and perform righteous deeds. How fitting are Ibn al-Mubārak’s verses about him:

Silent when silence best adorns its folk,
Yet he unlocks the virgin pearls of sealed speech;

He grasped every wisdom the Qur’an contains,
And courtesy was blended into his very flesh and blood. (3)

Qadi ʿIyad—may Allah have mercy on him—composed about him:

O seeker of laudable guidance and practice,
Pursue, and you shall be guided to the sciences of fiqh and sunnah;

Bind the covenant of your heart upon cool certainty—
Never fold it around doubt or the least corruption. (4)