He replied, “That was Aḥmad al-Surmārī.”

Jaʿbawayh said, “Then why did you not bring him with you?”

I answered, “He has passed away.” At this he slapped me across the face and said, “Had you told me it was he, I would have given him five hundred baradhawn horses (1) and ten thousand sheep.”

Bakr ibn Munīr related: “I saw al-Surmārī with his head and beard turned white, a huge man. He died in his village, and the hire of a mount to reach it rose to ten dirhams. He left behind heavy debts, so his creditors would sometimes buy from his estate a mere bundle of reeds for fifty—sometimes even a hundred—dirhams, out of their love for him, and they did not leave until every debt had been settled.”

ʿImrān ibn Muḥammad al-Muṭṭawiʿī said: “I heard my father say, ‘The fighting staff of al-Muṭṭawiʿī al-Surmārī weighed eighteen mann (2); when he grew old he reduced it to twelve mann, and he still fought with it.’”

Ghunjar said: “I heard Muḥammad ibn Khālid and Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad say: We heard ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad ibn Jarīr say, ‘I heard ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Wāṣil say: I heard Aḥmad al-Surmārī say’—and he drew his sword and declared—‘I know for certain that I have killed a thousand Turks with this blade; and if I live on, I shall kill another thousand with it. Were it not that I fear this might be an innovation, I would have ordered that it be buried with me.’ (3)”

Maḥmūd ibn Sahl al-Kātib reported: “During one of the campaigns we were besieging a fortress while the enemy leader sat on a platform (4). Al-Surmārī loosed an arrow…"