Abu ‘Ali al-Ghassani narrated: Abu al-Fath Nasr ibn al-Hasan al-Saktī (1) al-Samarqandi—who reached us in Valencia in the year 464 AH—told us:
“In one of the years a severe drought struck Samarqand. The people performed the ṣalāt al-istisqāʾ (prayer for rain) time after time, but no rain fell. A devout man, known for his righteousness, went to the judge of Samarqand and said, ‘I have a suggestion I would like to lay before you.’
‘And what is it?’ asked the judge.
He replied, ‘I think you and the people should go out to the grave of Imām Muhammad ibn Isma‘il al-Bukhari—his tomb is in Khartank—and there beseech Allah for rain. Perhaps Allah will grant us water.’
The judge said, ‘What an excellent idea.’
So the judge set out with the people. He led them in supplication for rain; the crowd wept at the graveside and sought Allah’s favor through the one buried there. Allah—exalted is He—then opened the heavens with a prodigious, torrential downpour that kept the people in Khartank for seven days or so. Because of the sheer volume of rain no one could reach Samarqand, even though the distance between Khartank and Samarqand is only about three miles (2).
Al-Khatib said in his History: Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Qadi al-Harashi in Nishapur informed us: I heard Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Ahmad al-Faqih al-Balkhi—(ḥ). Al-Khatib also said: I heard Ahmad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Saffar al-Balkhi say, ‘I heard Abu Ishaq al-Mustamli relate from Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Firrabri that he used to say, “Ninety thousand people heard the book al-Sahih of Muhammad ibn Isma‘il, and I am now the only one left who transmits it.”’ (3)