al-Fayḍ said: “I heard my grandfather and Bakkār ibn Muḥammad relate the ḥadīth of al-Sharʿabī exactly as Hishām ibn ʿAmmār narrated it. Tammām al-Rāzī transmitted it from Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān al-Rabaʿī, on his authority.
Muḥammad ibn al-Fayḍ also said: A man from the village of al-Ḥurjullah(1) came seeking entertainers for his brother’s wedding. When he learned that the governor had banned the lāʿibīn (musical performers), he began looking instead for mughabbirīn—that is, chanters who hum and beat time with a cane.
He encountered a frivolous Ṣūfī who directed him to Ibn Zakwān, who was sitting behind the pulpit. The man approached and said, “The ruler has prohibited the mukhanathīn (effeminate minstrels).”
Ibn Zakwān replied, “Excellent, by Allah.”
The man continued, “So we will hold the wedding with the mughabbirīn, and I have been sent to you.”
Ibn Zakwān answered, “We have a companion; if he agrees, I will come—and there he is.” He pointed to Hishām ibn ʿAmmār.
The man went over to Hishām, who was reclining by the miḥrāb, and asked, “Abu who are you?”
Hishām answered in a faint voice, “Abu al-Walīd.”
The man said, “O Abu al-Walīd, I am from al-Ḥurjullah.”
Hishām replied, “It matters little to me where you are from.”
The man explained, “My brother is celebrating his wedding.”
Hishām asked, “And what would you have me do?”
He said, “He has sent me to look for the mukhanathīn.”
Hishām retorted, “May Allah bless neither them nor you!”
The man added, “He also wants the mughabbirīn, and I was guided to you.”
Hishām asked, “Who sent you?”
He replied, “That man over there.”
Hishām lifted his foot, kicked him, and said, “Get up!” Then he shouted at Ibn Zakwān, “Have you really nothing better to do than this?!”
Ibn Zakwān replied, “Yes, by Allah—you are our leader; if you were to go, we would go.”
Muḥammad ibn al-Fayḍ added: Hishām noticed a staff in Ibn Zakwān’s hand and said, “I am older than his father, yet I do not carry a staff.”
Ahmad ibn Isḥāq informed us; al-Fatḥ ibn ʿAbd al-Salām informed us; Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar the judge, Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī, and Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Ṭarāʾifī informed us; they said: Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Muslama informed us; ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān narrated to us…
(1) A village near Ḥimṣ.