the tutoring chamber. The boy—Abū Yaḥyā—came out to him; when he had finished his writing lesson, the servant took the tablet and they returned inside in high spirits. Not a single maidservant remained without bringing him a tray filled with dirhams and dinars, yet he sent every gift back, saying, “I have entered into an agreement for a fixed amount and will accept nothing in excess of it.”

When the vizier learned of this, he summoned him and inquired about it. He replied, “Those women are slaves; they do not own any property.” The vizier was deeply impressed.

At times a friend would present him with a gift; he would accept it and recompense him many times over, so great was his magnanimity.

Al-Farghānī said: al-Marāghī wrote to me, mentioning that al-Muʾtaḍid’s son al-Muktafī once said to the vizier, “I wish to establish a waqf (charitable endowment).” He recounted the whole affair and added: the man returned the thousand to the vizier and would not accept it. People said to him, “Give it away in charity,” but he refused, saying, “You are more entitled to your own wealth and better know upon whom you should bestow it.”

Al-Khaṭīb said: I heard ʿAlī ibn ʿUbayd Allāh, the philologist, relate that Muḥammad ibn Jarīr spent 40 years during which he wrote 40 pages every single day.

Al-Khaṭīb also said: I was informed by Abū Ḥāmid Aḥmad ibn Abī Ṭāhir al-Isfarāʾīnī, the jurist, who remarked, “If a man were to travel all the way to China just to obtain Muḥammad ibn Jarīr’s Tafsīr, it would not be too much.”

Al-Hākim said: I heard Ḥusaynak ibn ʿAlī say: The first thing Ibn Khuzaymah asked me was, “Did you write down anything from Muḥammad ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī?” I said, “No.” He asked, “Why not?” I replied, “Because he did not appear publicly and the Hanbalīs barred people from entering upon him.” He said, “What a poor decision! I wish you had written from none of those from whom you collected narrations, and had instead heard from Abū Jaʿfar.”

Al-Hākim also said: I heard Abū Bakr ibn Bālūyah say: “Abū Bakr ibn…"