Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (10/126)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

—counted that day among the people of distinction, and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī would say, “What does Abu Kamil have to say about a report from the narrations of Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿd?” (1)

Ahmad said, “I heard Abu Kamil some forty years ago. He possessed dignity and gravitas, and he was one of the hadith scholars. He used to remark, ‘The most reliable narrator for Ibrāhīm is Manṣūr.’

Abu Kamil also said, ‘No one who came to us from greater Syria had sounder hadith than al-Layth, whereas Abu Maʿshar could not keep the isnād (chain of transmission) straight.’ (2)

ʿAbd Allah ibn Ahmad related: “I heard Ibn Maʿīn mention Abu Kamil and say, ‘I used to take knowledge of this discipline from him. He was a Baghdadi from the abnāʾ (offspring of the Persian troops settled in Iraq) (3), and he was a righteous man—rarely have I seen anyone like him.’ (4)”

Al-Mufaḍḍal al-Ghalābī narrated from Ibn Maʿīn that he said, “Abu Kamil was reliable, a man devoted to hadith.” (5)(6)

Abu Yaʿlā said, “I heard Abu Khaythamah state, ‘In our estimation Abu Kamil is no less than Wakīʿ is for the Kufans, or ʿAbd al-Raḥmān is for the Basrans.’ (7)"

(1) Tahdhib al-Kamal, folio 1336; Tarikh Baghdad, vol. 13, p. 125. (2) Tahdhib al-Kamal, folio 1336. (3) The children of the Persian nobles were called al-abnaʾ (lit. “the sons”). They were the descendants of the Persian contingent that the Sasanian king Khosrow sent with Sayf b. Dhi Yazan to help him expel the Abyssinians. After their victory, they ruled Yemen, settled there, and married Arab women; their offspring were therefore dubbed al-abnaʾ because their mothers were of a different stock than their fathers. (4) Tahdhib al-Kamal, folio 1336; see also Tarikh Baghdad, 13:125-126. (5) al-Ghilabi—with an initial ghayn, no gemination, as vocalized by the authors of al-Tawdih, al-Tabsir, and by al-Suyuti—is al-Mufaddal b. Ghassan b. al-Mufaddal, Abu ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Ghilabi. Al-Khateeb includes his biography in Tarikh Baghdad, 13:124, and judges him trustworthy. (6) Tahdhib al-Kamal, folio 1337; Tarikh Baghdad, 13:125. (7) Tahdhib al-Kamal, folio 1337; Tarikh Baghdad, 13:126.

يَوْمَئِذٍ يُعَدُّ مِنْ أَهْلِ الفَضْلِ، وَكَانَ عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بنُ مَهْدِيٍّ يَقُوْلُ: أَيْشٍ يَقُوْلُ أَبُو كَامِلٍ فِي حَدِيْثٍ مِنْ حَدِيْثِ إِبْرَاهِيْمَ بنِ سَعْدٍ (١) . قَالَ أَحْمَدُ: سَمِعْتُ أَبَا كَامِلٍ مُنْذُ نَحْوٍ مِنْ أَرْبَعِيْنَ سَنَةً، وَكَانَ لَهُ وَقَارٌ وَهَيْبَةٌ، وَكَانَ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ الحَدِيْثِ، يَقُوْلُ: أَثْبَتُ النَّاسِ فِي إِبْرَاهِيْمَ مَنْصُوْرٌ. وَقَالَ أَبُو كَامِلٍ: مَا قَدِمَ عَلَيْنَا مِنْ نَاحِيَةِ الشَّامِ أَصَحُّ حَدِيْثاً مِنَ اللَّيْثِ، وَكَانَ أَبُو مَعْشَرٍ لاَ يَضْبِطُ الإِسْنَادَ (٢) . وَقَالَ عَبْدُ اللهِ بنُ أَحْمَدَ: سَمِعْتُ ابْنَ مَعِيْنٍ ذَكَرَ أَبَا كَامِلٍ، فَقَالَ: كُنْتُ آخُذُ عَنْهُ هَذَا الشَّأْنِ، وَكَانَ بَغْدَادِيّاً مِنَ الأَبنَاءِ (٣) ، وَكَانَ رَجُلاً صَالِحاً، قَلَّ مَا رَأَيْتُ مَنْ يُشْبِهُهُ (٤) . وَرَوَى: المُفَضَّلُ الغَلاَبِيُّ (٥) ، عَنْ ابْنِ مَعِيْنٍ، قَالَ: كَانَ أَبُو كَامِلٍ ثِقَةً، صَاحِبَ حَدِيْثٍ (٦) . وَقَالَ أَبُو يَعْلَى: سَمِعْتُ أَبَا خَيْثَمَةَ يَقُوْلُ: مَا كَانَ أَبُو كَامِلٍ عِنْدَنَا بِدُوْنِ وَكِيْعٍ عِنْدَ الكُوْفِيِّيْنَ، وَعَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ عِنْدَ البَصْرِيِّيْنَ (٧) .

(١) " تهذيب الكمال " لوحة: ١٣٣٦، و" تاريخ بغداد " ١٣ / ١٢٥. (٢) " تهذيب الكمال " لوحة: ١٣٣٦. (٣) يقال لاولاد فارس: الابناء، وهم الذين أرسلهم كسرى مع سيف بن ذي يزن لما جاء يستنجده على الحبشة، فنصروه، وملكوا اليمن، وتديروها، وتزوجوا في العرب، فقيل لاولادهم: الابناء، وغلب عليهم هذا الاسم لان أمهاتهم من غير جنس آبائهم. (٤) " تهذيب الكمال " لوحة: ١٣٣٦، وانظر " تاريخ بغداد " ١٣ / ١٢٥، ١٢٦. (٥) الغلابي: بالغين المعجمة المفتوحة والتخفيف كما ضبطه صاحبا " التوضيح " و" التبصير " والسيوطي وهو المفضل بن غسان بن المفضل أبو عبد الرحمن الغلابي، ترجمه الخطيب في " تاريخه " ١٣ / ١٢٤ ووثقه. (٦) " تهذيب الكمال " لوحة ١٣٣٧، و" تاريخ بغداد " ١٣ / ١٢٥. (٧) " تهذيب الكمال " لوحة ١٣٣٧، و" تاريخ بغداد " ١٣ / ١٢٦.