Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (12/433)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Abu ‘Isa al-Tirmidhi also said: “Muhammad ibn Isma‘il was once with ‘Abd Allah ibn Munir. When he rose to depart, Ibn Munir said to him, ‘Abu ‘Abd Allah, may Allah make you the adornment of this ummah.’ Tirmidhi comments: His prayer for him was answered (1).

I say: Ibn Munir was one of the leading ascetics; he said (2) …

It was said that when al-Bukhari returned from Iraq on his last visit, the people came out to greet him, thronged about him, and showed him extreme reverence. When this was mentioned to him, he replied, “What would you have thought had you seen the day we entered Basra?” (3)

Abu ‘Ali Salih ibn Muhammad Jazara related: “Muhammad ibn Isma‘il used to sit and teach in Baghdad, and I would act as his prompter. More than twenty thousand people would gather in his circle.”

‘Abd al-Mu’min ibn Khalaf al-Nasafi said: “I asked Abu ‘Ali Salih ibn Muhammad about al-Darimi, Muhammad ibn Isma‘il, and Abu Zur‘a. He answered, ‘The most knowledgeable among them in hadith is Muhammad, while the one with the strongest memory is Abu Zur‘a.’”

Ishaq ibn Zabarq (4) recounted: “I heard Muhammad ibn Idris al-Razi say in the year 247 AH, ‘A man from Khurasan is about to arrive; no one has left Khurasan with a better memory than his, and none has come to Iraq more learned than he.’ Then al-Bukhari arrived among us (5).”

(1) Tarikh Baghdad, vol. 2, p. 26; Tabaqat al-Subki, vol. 2, p. 221; Muqaddimat al-Fath, p. 484. (2) Both base manuscripts leave a blank of roughly one-third of a line; Muqaddimat al-Fath supplies the missing text: “and Hamduwayh ibn al-Khattab said: When al-Bukhari arrived on his final visit …”. (3) Tahdhib al-Kamal, p. 1171; Muqaddimat al-Fath, p. 488; see also Ibn Hajar’s comments on this point. (4) Tarikh Baghdad, vol. 2, p. 23 reads “Zayrak,” which is a scribal error. (5) Tarikh Baghdad, vol. 2, p. 23, with the continuation there stating: “several months later.” The same wording appears in Tahdhib al-Kamal, p. 1171.

وَقَالَ أَبُو عِيْسَى التِّرْمِذِيُّ: كَانَ مُحَمَّدُ بنُ إِسْمَاعِيْلَ عِنْدَ عَبْدِ اللهِ بنِ مُنِيْرٍ، فَلَمَّا قَامَ مِنْ عِنْدِهِ قَالَ لَهُ: يَا أَبَا عَبْدِ اللهِ، جَعَلَكَ اللهُ زَيْنَ هَذِهِ الأُمَّةِ. قَالَ التِّرْمِذِيُّ: اسْتُجِيْبَ لَهُ فِيْهِ (١) . قُلْتُ: ابْنُ مُنِيْرٍ مِنْ كِبَارِ الزُّهَّادِ، قَالَ (٢) .... قِيْلَ: إِنَّ البُخَارِيَّ لَمَّا قَدِمَ مِنَ العِرَاقِ، قَدْمَتَهُ الآخِرَة، وَتلقَّاهُ النَّاسُ، وَازْدَحَمُوا عَلَيْهِ، وَبَالغُوا فِي بِرِّهِ. قِيْلَ لَهُ فِي ذَلِكَ، فَقَالَ: كَيْفَ لَوْ رَأَيْتُم يَوْمَ دُخُوْلِنَا البَصْرَةَ (٣) ؟ وَقَالَ أَبُو عَلِيٍّ صَالِحُ بنُ مُحَمَّدٍ جَزَرَة: كَانَ مُحَمَّدُ بنُ إِسْمَاعِيْلَ يَجْلِسُ بِبَغْدَادَ، وَكُنْتُ أَستملِي لَهُ، وَيجتمعُ فِي مَجْلِسِهِ أَكْثَرُ مِنْ عِشْرِيْنَ أَلْفاً. وَقَالَ عَبْدُ المُؤْمِنِ بنُ خَلَفٍ النَّسَفِيُّ: سَأَلْتُ أَبَا عَلِيٍّ صَالِحُ بنُ مُحَمَّدٍ، عَنِ الدَّارِمِيِّ وَمُحَمَّدِ بنِ إِسْمَاعِيْلَ وَأَبِي زُرْعَةَ، فقَالَ: أَعْلَمُهُم بالحَدِيْثِ مُحَمِّدٌ، وأَحْفَظُهُم أَبُو زُرْعَةَ. وَقَالَ إِسْحَاقُ بنُ زبركٍ (٤) : سَمِعْتُ مُحَمَّدَ بنَ إِدْرِيْسَ الرَّازِيَّ يَقُوْلُ فِي سَنَةِ سَبْعٍ وَأَرْبَعِيْنَ وَمائَتَيْنِ: يقدَمُ عَلَيْكُم رَجُلٌ مِنْ خُرَاسَانَ لَمْ يَخْرُجْ مِنْهَا أَحْفَظُ مِنْهُ، وَلاَ قَدِمَ العِرَاقَ أَعْلَمُ مِنْهُ. فَقَدمَ عَلَيْنَا البُخَارِيَّ (٥) .

(١) " تاريخ بغداد " ٢ / ٢٦، و" طبقات السبكي " ٢ / ٢٢١، و" مقدمة الفتح ": ٤٨٤. (٢) بياض في كلا الاصلين قدر ثلث سطر، وجاء في " مقدمة الفتح ": وقال حمدويه بن الخطاب: لما قدم البخاري قدمته الأخيرة ... (٣) " تهذيب الكمال ": ١١٧١، و" مقدمة الفتح ": ٤٨٨، وانظر ما قاله ابن حجر في ذلك. (٤) في " تاريخ بغداد " ٢ / ٢٣ زيرك وهو تصحيف. (٥) " تاريخ بغداد " ٢ / ٢٣ وتتمته فيه: " بعد ذلك بأشهر ". وهو في " تهذيب الكمال ": ١١٧١.