He governed Damascus first on behalf of his cousin al-Mahdī and later on behalf of al-Rashīd; he also administered Mecca and supervised the pilgrimage. A man of lofty standing, he was even spoken of as a candidate for the caliphate.
He transmitted hadith from Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq and from al-Manṣūr. Among those who narrated from him were his son Mūsā and his grandson ʿAbd al-Ṣamad, along with others. He is the transmitter of the hadith: “Honor the witnesses.” (1) I know of no one who ever ventured to declare any of these princes weak, out of respect for their power within the state.
He lived for 63 years and died in Baghdad in 185 AH.
28 – Yaḥyā ibn Khālid ibn Barmak, Abū ʿAlī al-Fārisī *
The great vizier, Abū ʿAlī al-Fārisī, was one of the remarkable men of his era—decisive, sharp-witted, politically astute, intelligent, and masterful in administration. Al-Mahdī assigned him to his son al-Rashīd so that he might rear him, refine him, and acquaint him with the affairs of state. When al-Rashīd acceded to the caliphate, he elevated Yaḥyā’s rank, publicized his name, addressed him as “Father,” and entrusted to him the keys of the vizierate.
(1) Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi records it (10/300) with Abd al-Samad ibn Ali in the chain. The author of al-Mizan remarks: “This report is munkar (denounced); Abd al-Samad carries no weight, and the hadith critics probably remained silent only out of deference to the ruling authorities.” Al-Fatni in Tadhkirat al-Mawduat, p. 186, and al-Shawkani in al-Fawaid al-Majmuʿa, p. 200, quote al-Saghani as calling it fabricated. Al-Suyuti, in al-Jamiʿ al-Saghir, attributes it to al-Baniyasi in his separate tract, and Ibn ʿAsakir cites it in his Tarikh.
(*) Khilafa’s History, p. 465; al-Maʿarif, pp. 381-382; Tarikh Baghdad, 14/128; Muʿjam al-Udaba, 20/5; Wafayat al-Aʿyan, 6/219; al-Ibar, 1/306; Mirat al-Janan, 1/424; al-Bidaya wa-l-Nihaya, 10/204; Shadharat al-Dhahab, 1/288 and 327; al-Bayan al-Mughrib, 1/80; al-Wuzara wa-l-Kuttab by al-Jahshiyari (see the index); Muruj al-Dhahab, 2/228; al-Kamil by Ibn al-Athir, 6/15, 16, 177, 179, 183, 198. A marginal note in al-Iʿlam, copied from an old manuscript, states: “Their ancestor Barmak was a Magian from Balkh who served at the Nawbahar—a fire-temple in Balkh where fires were kept continually burning—and both he and his descendants became renowned for its custodianship.”