years old. His grave is famous and often visited, and an enormous crowd escorted his funeral.

I heard Muḥammad ibn Abī al-Qāsim the preacher say: I heard my father remark, “Had al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faḍl lived among the Children of Israel, he would have been numbered among their wonders.”

I also heard the ḥāfiẓ Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb say, “I have never seen anyone with a more eloquent tongue than al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faḍl.” (1)

Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb al-Karābīsī said: “In the latter part of his life al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faḍl would have us spread a mat opposite Sikkat ʿAmmār, and we used to carry him there in a litter (2). A group of horsemen dressed in the garb of scholars passed by; he raised his eyebrow and asked me, ‘Who are these people?’ I replied, ‘That is Abū Bakr ibn Khuzaymah with some companions.’ He exclaimed, ‘Glory be to Allah! After Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh and Muḥammad ibn Rāfiʿ used to visit us in this very house, Ibn Khuzaymah now rides past without so much as giving the greeting.’”

Al-Ḥākim said: “I heard Ibrāhīm ibn Muḍārib—I heard my father say: The insight al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faḍl had into the meanings (of the Quran) was a gift of inspiration from Allah; he had surpassed the bounds of ordinary study.

“He would perform six hundred units of prayer every day and night, and he used to say, ‘Were it not for weakness and old age, I would abstain from food in the daytime.’

“I heard Abū Zakariyyā al-ʿAnbarī—I heard my father say: When al-Maʾmūn appointed ʿAbd Allah ibn Ṭāhir over Khurasan, Ibn Ṭāhir said, ‘O Commander of the Believers! I have a need.’ He replied, ‘It is granted.’ He said, ‘Assist me with three men: al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faḍl, Abū Saʿīd the Blind, and Abū Isḥāq al-Qurashī.’ He answered, ‘We have fulfilled your request, and I have already emptied Iraq of its singular luminaries.’ (3)