Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (15/481)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

He was born in 259 AH. (1)

He heard hadith from his grandfather al-Tufayl ibn Zayd; Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī; Abū Yaḥyā ibn Abī Masarra al-Makkī; Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm al-Dabarī; Abū al-Zinbaʿ, Rawaḥ ibn al-Faraj; Yūsuf ibn Yazīd al-Qarāṭīsī; ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Baghawī; and others of their rank.

He was one of the jurists who adhered to the literalist (ẓāhirī) approach, following the jurisprudence of Muḥammad ibn Dāwūd in Baghdad. He openly opposed the proponents of qiyās (analogical reasoning). Wealthy yet upright and ascetic, he possessed vast learning. (2)

Those who narrated from him include: ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān al-Maydānī; Aḥmad ibn ʿAmmār ibn ʿIṣmah; Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq; the scholars of Nasaf; Abū ʿAlī Manṣūr ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Dhuhlī; Abū Naṣr Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Kalābādhī; and several others.

We have been told that when the Muʿtazilite scholar Abū al-Qāsim al-Kaʿbī (3)—the leading dialectician of his day—arrived in Nasaf, the people honored him, yet Abū Yaʿlā did not go out to meet him. Al-Kaʿbī therefore said, “Then we shall go to the shaykh.”

When he entered, Abū Yaʿlā neither rose for him nor turned from his prayer niche. Al-Kaʿbī, embarrassed, broke the tension and said, “For Allah’s sake, O Shaykh, do not stand.” He invoked blessings upon him, praised him while still standing, and then departed. (4)

Jaʿfar al-Mustaghfirī said: Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Nasafī informed us, “I attended the funeral prayer of the shaykh (5) Abū Yaʿlā at the open-air musalla, and we were suddenly enveloped by the sound of drums…"

(1) In Tadhkirat al-Huffaz, 3/866, the reading is “Sabʿ” (seven), but this is a misprint. (2) Ibid. (3) His biography has already been given under no. 108 of the present volume. (4) Tadhkirat al-Huffaz, 3/867; the text enclosed in brackets is taken from that source. (5) The original manuscript has Aba in the accusative case.

وُلِدَ: سَنَةَ تِسْعٍ (١) وَخَمْسِيْنَ وَمائَتَيْنِ. وَسَمِعَ مِنْ: جَدِّه الطُّفَيْل بنِ زَيْدٍ، وَأَبِي حَاتِمٍ الرَّازِيِّ، وَأَبِي يَحْيَى بن أَبِي مَسَرَّة المَكِّيّ، وَإِسْحَاقَ بن إِبْرَاهِيْمَ الدَّبَرِي، وَأَبِي الزِّنْبَاع رَوْح بنِ الفَرَجِ، وَيُوْسُفَ بنِ يَزِيْدَ القَرَاطِيْسِيّ، وَعَلِيِّ بنِ عَبْدِ العَزِيْزِ البَغَوِيّ، وَطَبَقَتِهِم. وَكَانَ مِنَ الفُقَهَاء القَائِلين بِالظَّاهِر بِفقه مُحَمَّد بنِ دَاوُدَ بِبَغْدَادَ، وَكَانَ مُنَافِراً لأَهْلِ القِيَاس، ثَرِيّاً مُتَّبِعاً نَاسِكاً، كَثِيْر العِلْم (٢) . حَدَّثَ عَنْهُ: عَبْدُ المَلِكِ بنُ مَرْوَانَ المَيْدَانِيُّ، وَأَحْمَد بنُ عَمَّار بنِ عصمَة، وَيَعْقُوْبُ بنُ إِسْحَاقَ، وَأَهْلُ نَسَف، وَأَبُو عَلِيٍّ مَنْصُوْر بن عَبْدِ اللهِ الذُّهْلِيّ، وَأَبُو نَصْرٍ أَحْمَدُ بنُ مُحَمَّدٍ الكَلاَبَاذِيُّ، وَعِدَّة. وَبَلَغَنَا أَنَّ شَيْخَ المُعْتَزِلَة أَبَا القَاسِم الكَعْبِي (٣) ، شَيْخَ أَهْلِ الكَلاَم، لَمَّا قَدِمَ نَسَف، أَكرمُوهُ، وَلَمْ يَأْتِ إِلَيْهِ أَبُو يَعْلَى، فَقَالَ الكَعْبِي: نَحْنُ نَأْتِي الشَّيْخَ. فَلَمَّا دَخَلَ لَمْ يَقُمْ لَهُ، وَلاَ التَفَتَ مِنْ مِحْرَابه، فكسَّر الكَعْبِيُّ خَجَلَه وَقَالَ: بِاللهِ عَلَيْكَ أَيُّهَا الشَّيْخ لاَ تَقُمْ. وَدَعَا لَهُ وَأَثْنَى قَائِماً، وَانْصَرَفَ (٤) . قَالَ جَعْفَرٌ المُسْتَغْفِرِيُّ: أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ مُحَمَّد بنُ عَلِيٍّ النَّسَفِي قَالَ: شهدتُ جَنَازَة الشَّيْخ (٥) أَبِي يَعْلَى بِالمُصَلَّى، فَغشِيتنَا أَصوات طُبُول

(١) في " تذكرة الحفاظ ": ٣ / ٨٦٦ سبع، وهو تصحيف. (٢) المصدر السابق. (٣) تقدمت ترجمته رقم / ١٠٨ / من هذا الجزء. (٤) " تذكرة الحفاظ " ٣ / ٨٦٧، وما بين حاصرتين منه. (٥) في الأصل: أبا، بالنصب.