Al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī relates (1) that when Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mahdī was brought before al-Maʾmūn, the Caliph began to censure him for what he had done. Ibrāhīm said, “Commander of the Faithful, I once attended my father—your grandfather—when a man whose offense was graver than mine was brought before him and he ordered the man’s execution. Mubārak ibn Faḍālah (2) thereupon said, ‘Commander of the Faithful, would you postpone killing this man until I narrate a ḥadīth to you?’ ‘Speak,’ he replied.
He said, ‘Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī told me, on the authority of ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “When the Day of Resurrection arrives, a herald will call out from the butnān (3) of the Throne: ‘Let the rulers who used to pardon stand for the most generous reward,’ and none will stand save those who pardoned.”’ (4)
Al-Maʾmūn responded, “I accept this ḥadīth as it stands, and I pardon you, O uncle.”
We noted additional material on this event under the year 204 AH. Ibrāhīm also left behind polished and expressive poetry—may Allah pardon him—and the ḥāfiẓ Ibn ʿAsākir quoted many fine selections from it in his History (5).
Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mahdī was born on the first of Dhū al-Qaʿdah, 162 AH, and died on Friday, the seventh of Ramaḍān of this year, at the age of sixty-two—may Allah grant him mercy.
Among the other notable figures who died in this same year were: Saʿīd ibn Abī Maryam al-Miṣrī (6); Sulaymān ibn Ḥarb (7); and Abū Maʿmar al-Muqʿad (8).
(1) al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Tarikh Baghdad (vol. 6, p. 145).
(2) Mubarak b. Faddala b. Abi Umayya, Abu Faddala al-Qurashi al-’Adawi: a leading scholar of Basra; born in the generation of the Companions and a companion of al-Hasan al-Basri; regarded as ṣaduq (truthful) yet weak; died 165 AH. Sir al-A‘lam al-Nubala (vol. 7, p. 281); Tahdhib al-Tahdhib (vol. 10, p. 28).
(3) “Butnan al-’Arsh”: literally “the sides” or “the middle” of the Throne; some say it denotes the Throne’s original core; others derive al-butnan (pl. of batan, “interior”) to mean its hidden depths, i.e. from within the Throne. al-Nihaya (vol. 1, p. 137).
(4) Transmitted by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi in Tarikh Baghdad (vol. 6, p. 145) and by Ibn ‘Asakir in his Tarikh—and in its abridgement (vol. 4, p. 126)—from Mubarak b. Faddala on the authority of al-Hasan from ‘Imran b. Husayn. Its isnad is weak.
(5) Abridged Tarikh Ibn ‘Asakir (vol. 4, pp. 126–148).
(6) Sa‘id b. al-Hakam b. Muhammad b. Salim al-Jumahi al-Misri, Abu Muhammad: muhaddith and faqih; one of the imams of hadith who narrated from the Six Canonical Books. Sir al-A‘lam al-Nubala (vol. 10, p. 327).
(7) Sulayman b. Harb b. Bajil, Abu Ayyub al-Washshi al-Azdi al-Basri: imam, muhaddith, thiqa; qadi of Mecca; died in Basra. Sir al-A‘lam al-Nubala (vol. 10, p. 330).
(8) ‘Abd Allah b. ‘Amr b. Abi al-Hajjaj, Abu Ma‘mar al-Minqqari al-Basri, al-Muq‘ad (the disabled); his grandfather, known as Abu al-Hajjaj, was named Maysara. Muhaddith, mujjid, thiqa; accused of qadar. Sir al-A‘lam al-Nubala (vol. 10, p. 622); Taqrib al-Tahdhib (vol. 1, p. 436).