(1) He said, “The sign of a true friend is that he is also a friend to his friend’s friends.”
(2) He said, “Whoever gossips to you will one day gossip about you.”
(3) He said, “Humility is a trait of the noble, while arrogance is the hallmark of the base. Humility wins affection, and contentment brings ease.”
(4) He said, “The most exalted of people is the one who does not notice his own standing, and the most virtuous is the one unaware of his own virtue.”
(5) He said, “Whenever people laugh at a man’s mistake, it only strengthens his conviction that he was right.”
By Allah, we cannot be blamed for loving this Imam—may Allah be pleased with him—for he was one of the paragons of his age, even though we may love others more.
2 – al-Fadl ibn Sahl al-Sarkhasi
The vizier, and the brother of the vizier al-Hasan ibn Sahl.
Their father embraced Islam at the hands of Caliph al-Mahdi, and al-Fadl himself accepted Islam in the year 190 AH through al-Maʾmun.
(1) Al-Bayhaqi, Manaqib, vol. 2, p. 196; Ibn Hajar, Tawali al-Ta’sis, p. 72; Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, Manaqib, p. 123; al-Nawawi, Tahdhib al-Asmaʾ wa-l-Lughat, vol. 1, p. 55.
(2) Al-Bayhaqi, Manaqib, vol. 2, p. 196; Ibn Hajar, Tawali al-Ta’sis, p. 72; Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, Manaqib, p. 123; al-Nawawi, Tahdhib al-Asmaʾ wa-l-Lughat, vol. 1, p. 56.
(3) Al-Bayhaqi, Manaqib, vol. 2, p. 200; Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, Manaqib, p. 123.
(4) Al-Bayhaqi, Manaqib, vol. 2, p. 201; Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, Manaqib, p. 123.
(5) Al-Bayhaqi, Manaqib, vol. 2, p. 214; Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, Manaqib, p. 123.
(*) Khalifa b. Khayyat, Tarikh, p. 471; al-Tabari, Tarikh, vol. 8, pp. 424, 565; al-Masʿudi, Muruj al-Dhahab, vol. 4, p. 5; al-Juwayni, al-Wuzaraʾ wa-l-Kuttab (see index); al-Marzubani, Muʿjam al-Shuʿaraʾ, p. 313; al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Tarikh Baghdad, vol. 12, p. 339; Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil, vol. 6, p. 346; Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-Aʿyan, vol. 4, pp. 41–44; al-Dhahabi, al-ʿIbar, vol. 1, p. 338; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa-l-Nihaya, vol. 10, p. 249; Ibn Taghribirdi, al-Nujum al-Zahira, vol. 2, p. 172; Ibn al-ʿImad, Shadharat al-Dhahab, vol. 2, p. 4.