the foremost voice in jurisprudence and clear, discerning sight—
The guide all men emulated for true direction in that age of light.

Scholar of the whole wide earth—so judged the Chosen Witness rare,
The Prophet of grace and favor whose testimony none can impair.

To sit before his doorway, beasts were driven from every land;
Lean camels crossed the scorching wastes, their riders eager, fanned. (1)

A love for him was poured into creation, every single soul;
It coursed through beating hearts like water running through a knotted bole.

Each tongue spoke out in praise of him, declaring what it knew,
Though none could reach, in eloquence, the stature that was due.

On him his Lord bestowed the purest mercies from the sky,
Showers of divine good-will, like rainclouds pouring high. (2)

His resting-place is graced by gentle, steady showers of rain,
Watering by the Lord’s own mercy that gardened plot of plain. (3)

11 – ʿAbd al-Quddūs ibn Ḥabīb, Abū Saʿīd al-Kalāʿī*
The hadith scholar, Abū Saʿīd al-Kalāʿī al-Wuḥāẓī, from greater Syria.