deeply rooted in the vizierate; he served al-Muqtadir and then al-Qāhir (1). Majestic in bearing, unyielding in power, and feared on every side, he was nevertheless a man of letters—a poet, graceful correspondent, and eloquent stylist, blessed with fine penmanship and upright conduct. On one occasion a prince sent him a gift of one hundred thousand dinars, which he returned. Although he used to drink nabidh and indulge in luxury, he was later dismissed, his property was confiscated, and his means became straitened. He died of a sudden stroke in 328 AH, though some say he died in 330.

135 – Al-Balkhī, Abū Yaḥyā Zakariyyā ibn Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā*

The erudite scholar, ḥadīth master, and judge of Damascus—Abū Yaḥyā Zakariyyā ibn Aḥmad, son of the ḥadīth scholar Yaḥyā ibn Mūsā Khatt al-Balkhī, a Shāfiʿī—narrated from Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib, Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī, Ibn (2) Abī ʿAwf al-Buzūrī, ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn al-Faḍl al-Balkhī, Muḥammad ibn Saʿd al-ʿAwfī, and their peers.

From him transmitted Abū al-Ḥusayn al-Rāzī, Abū Zurʿah, the two Abū Bakrs—sons of Abū Dujānah—Abū Bakr ibn al-Muqriʾ, ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Kilābī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿUthmān Ibn Abī al-Ḥadīd, and many others.

He was regarded as an authoritative figure within the school; his name is cited repeatedly in al-Muhadhdhab and al-Wasīṭ.