until the majority came to make light of Allah’s right,
while the duty they had been entrusted with concerning that right was burden enough.
We have already quoted a fair selection of his poetry on the Sunnah, his remarks about it, and a number of his maxims and admonitions in the opening pages of Tabaqāt al-Shāfiʿiyyah.
He passed away in Egypt on a Thursday—though some say it was on Friday—the last day of Rajab in the year 204 AH, at the age of fifty-four.
He was fair-skinned, handsome, tall, and dignified. He used henna to dye (his beard) and was openly opposed to the Shiʿah. May Allah have mercy on him and ennoble his resting place (1).
Among those who also died that year were:
• Isḥāq ibn al-Furāt (2).
• Ashhab ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Miṣrī al-Mālikī (3).
• al-Ḥasan ibn Ziyād al-Luʾluʾī al-Kūfī al-Ḥanafī (4).
• Abū Dāwūd Sulaymān ibn Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī, the author of the Musnad (5), one of the eminent ḥadith masters.
• Abū Badr Shujāʿ ibn al-Walīd (6).
• Abū Bakr al-Ḥanafī, ʿAbd al-Kabīr (7).
(1) Wafayat al-Ayan (vol. 4, p. 165).
(2) Ishaq ibn al-Furat ibn al-Jaʿd, known as Abu Nuʿaym al-Tujibi, jurist and judge in Egypt, student of Imam Malik. Siyar Aʿlam al-Nubalaʾ (vol. 9, p. 503).
(3) Ashhab ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz ibn Dawud, known as Abu ʿAmr al-Qaysi—his given name was Miskin and Ashhab was his epithet—mufti of Egypt, jurist, and reliable scholar. Siyar Aʿlam al-Nubalaʾ (vol. 9, p. 500).
(4) Abu ʿAli al-Ansari, companion of Abu Hanifa, jurist of Iraq and one of the most astute in legal reasoning. Tarikh Baghdad (vol. 7, p. 314); Siyar Aʿlam al-Nubalaʾ (vol. 9, p. 543).
(5) Sulayman ibn Dawud ibn al-Jarud, known as Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi al-Basri, reliable hafiz who erred in some hadith. Siyar Aʿlam al-Nubalaʾ (vol. 9, p. 378); Taqrib al-Tahdhib (vol. 1, p. 323).
(6) Shujaʿ ibn al-Walid ibn Qays al-Sakkuni, known as Abu Badr al-Kufi, resident of Baghdad, devout in prayer and piety, trustworthy but prone to some fabrications.
(7) In some copies the name appears as ‘Abd al-Karim in error. He is ‘Abd al-Kabir ibn ‘Abd al-Majid al-Basri, one of the hadith masters, deemed reliable by Ahmad ibn Hanbal and others. Siyar Aʿlam al-Nubalaʾ (vol. 9, p. 489).