say: “I heard Abū al-Fadl al-Hārithī, the judge in Sarakhs, say that he heard Zāhir ibn Ahmad declare: ‘I bear witness that Abū al-Hasan al-Ashʿarī died bewildered over the question of the equivalence of proofs.’”

May Allah grant no reward to anyone who attaches his contrivances to the school of Imām al-Muttalibī, may Allah Most High have mercy on him. He was among the purest-hearted of Allah’s creatures, the most dignified in bearing, the best guided in conduct, the deepest in knowledge, the least given to needless subtleties, the most reverent towards religion, the furthest from pedantic excess, and the most sincere in seeking the good of Allah’s creatures. May Allah reward him well.

He said: I have seen some of them strive diligently to recite the Quran, memorize its wording, and complete its recitation frequently, while holding the beliefs about it that we have already explained—a diligence marked by evasion, like that of the Kharijites.

He also related, with his chain of transmission, a report from Sufyān al-Thawrī