from the court of al-Muʿtazz. He was a man of letters and intellectual acuity. When he reached the city he met Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim, appointed him his secretary, and came to rely on him. Later Ṣāliḥ ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal arrived on behalf of al-Muʿtamid, and for a time the office of judge in Isfahān was left vacant, until a letter from al-Muʿtamid reached Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim appointing him to the judiciary. That was in Rajab of the year 269 AH. He remained in office thirteen years, and his administration ran smoothly until the clash occurred between him and ʿAlī ibn Mattawih, the city’s ascetic.

He said: After him the post of judge was held by al-Walīd ibn Abī Dāwūd.

Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Nasawī related: I heard Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Muslim say: I heard Muḥammad ibn Khafīf say: I heard al-Ḥakīmī say:

They once told Laylā (1) the Daylamite that Abū Bakr ibn Abī ʿĀṣim was a Nāṣibī (2). He therefore sent a page, a satchel, and a sword (3), ordering him to bring back his head. The boy arrived while Abū Bakr was reading hadith, the book still in his hand, and said, “I have been ordered to carry your head to him.”

Abū Bakr lay down on his back, placed the book he was holding over his face, and said, “Do whatever you wish.”

Someone caught up with the boy and said, “Do not do it, for the amir has forbidden you.”

So Abū Bakr stood up, took the fascicle, and resumed the hadith at the very place where he had broken off, and the people were astonished (4).

Abū Bakr ibn Mardāwayh said: I heard Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq say:

Aḥmad ibn ʿAmr died in 287 AH, on the night of Tuesday, when five days of Rabīʿ al-Ākhir had passed.

And it was reported from Abū Shaykh, who said: I was present at Abū Bakr’s funeral, and two hundred—