he died.

Abū Yūsuf passed away in Rabīʿ al-Awwal of this very year, at the age of sixty-seven. He had occupied the judiciary for sixteen years. After him, the office of judge was given to his son Yūsuf, who had already been his deputy for the eastern side of Baghdad. Anyone who claims—as does ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Balawī, the notorious liar, in the travel account he attributes to al-Shāfiʿī—that al-Shāfiʿī ever met Abū Yūsuf is mistaken. Al-Shāfiʿī did not arrive in Baghdad until his first visit in the year 184 AH, and the one he actually met was Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī, who treated him honorably and warmly. There was no hostility between them, contrary to what some uninformed people allege. Allah knows best.

In the same year there died:

Yaʿqūb ibn Dāwūd ibn Taḥmān (1) Abū ʿAbd Allāh, client of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥāzim al-Sulamī. Al-Mahdī had made him vizier, showered him with favor, and entrusted the reins of government to him. Later, when the Caliph ordered the execution of that ʿAlid—as mentioned above (2)—Yaʿqūb released the man. A slave-girl informed on him; once it was confirmed that he had done so, al-Mahdī cast him into a well, built a dome over it, his hair grew until it resembled the coats of livestock, and he went blind.

Some say his sight merely became dim. He remained about fifteen years in that well, seeing no light and hearing no sound except at the times of prayer, when he would be informed. Each day they lowered to him a loaf of bread and a jug of water. Thus he remained through the reigns of al-Mahdī, al-Hādī, and into the early years of al-Rashīd.

Yaʿqūb said: A visitor came to me in a dream and recited:

Perhaps the hardship in which you spend the night
will soon be followed by a near relief;
The frightened shall be secure, the captive freed,
and the far-off stranger shall return to his family.

When morning came I was called, and I supposed they were announcing the prayer time. A rope was lowered to me and I was told, “Tie this rope around your waist.” They drew me up; when my eyes met the daylight I could see nothing. I was set before the Caliph, and someone said, “Greet the Commander of the Faithful.” Thinking it was al-Mahdī, I greeted him by name. He said, “I am not he.” I said, “Al-Hādī.” He said, “I am not he.” So I said, “Peace be upon you, Commander of the Faithful al-Rashīd.” He replied, “Yes.”

He then said, “By Allah, no one interceded for you with me. But last night I was carrying a small slave-girl of mine on my shoulders, and I remembered how you once carried me on yours; I felt compassion for the straitened state you are in, so I released you.” He then bestowed favors upon him and treated him generously. This stirred the jealousy of Yaḥyā ibn Khālid ibn Barmak, who feared that the Caliph might restore him to the rank he had held in al-Mahdī’s days. Perceiving this, Yaʿqūb sought permission from al-Rashīd to