and a party against him, until the people of Samarqand wrote to him, asking that he come to them. He therefore set out and, when he had reached some of the villages near Samarqand, discord broke out among the townsfolk on his account: one faction wanted to bring him into the city, while another did not. In the end they agreed that he should enter, but news of their dispute reached him, so he stepped out intending to mount his animal.

When he had settled himself on it he said, “O Allah, choose what is best for me,” three times, whereupon he fell dead. Word of this reached the people of Samarqand, and they all came out to him.

This is an isolated, broken-chained report; the sound version is the opposite of what it relates.

Ghunjar said in his History: I heard Abu ʿAmr Ahmad ibn Muhammad the Qurʾān-reciter say, “I heard Bakr ibn Munir ibn Khulayd ibn ʿAskar say: The governor of Bukhara, the amir Khalid ibn Ahmad al-Dhuhli, sent word to Muhammad ibn Ismaʿil, ‘Bring me the book al-Jāmiʿ, al-Tārīkh, and the rest, so that I may listen to you reading from them.’

He replied to the messenger, ‘I will not abase knowledge by carrying it to people’s doorsteps. If you need anything from it, then come to my mosque or to my house. If this displeases you, you are the ruler—ban me from teaching, so that I may have an excuse before Allah on the Day of Resurrection; for I do not withhold knowledge in view of the Prophet’s statement: “Whoever is asked about knowledge and conceals it will be bridled with a bridle of fire.” (1) This was the cause of the rift between them.’

(2) Al-Hākim said: I heard Muhammad ibn al-ʿAbbās al-Dabbī say: I heard Abā