ibn Abu Jaʿfar al-Manṣūr al-ʿAbbāsī.
He was born in 170 AH.
He studied the religious sciences, belles-lettres, historical reports, rational disciplines, and the lore of the ancients. He ordered their books to be translated into Arabic and pursued that task with great zeal; he even erected an observatory (1) on a mountain overlooking Damascus. He likewise championed the doctrine that the Qur’an is created and pressed it with extreme fervor (2)—we ask Allah for well-being.
He heard ḥadith from Hushaym, ʿUbayd ibn al-ʿAwwām, Yūsuf ibn ʿAṭiyyah, Abū Muʿāwiyah, and a number of others.
Those who transmitted from him include his son al-Faḍl, Yaḥyā ibn Aktham, Jaʿfar ibn Abī ʿUthmān al-Ṭayālisī, the emir ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṭāhir, the poet Diʿbil, and Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥārith the Shīʿī.
Among the Abbasids he was noted for firmness, determination, sound judgment, intelligence, majesty, and forbearance; in short, his merits were many.
Ibn Abī al-Dunyā said: “He was fair-skinned, of medium height, handsome-featured with a slight pallor, already streaked with gray. He had a long beard, wide eyes, a narrow brow, and a mole on his cheek (3).”
The news of his father’s death reached him while he was in Marw, marching to campaign beyond the Oxus. Those in his company then swore allegiance to his brother al-Amīn. After that, matters, crises, and wars ensued between the two—conflicts severe enough to turn one’s forelock white,