and Muḥammad ibn Minhal the Blind (1); Muḥammad ibn Minhal, the brother of Ḥajjāj (2); Hārūn ibn Maʿrūf (3); and al-Buwayṭī (4), the companion of al-Shāfiʿī—he died in prison, shackled, because he was ordered to declare that the Qur’an is created but refused—may Allah have mercy on him; and Yaḥyā ibn Bukayr (5), the transmitter of the Muwaṭṭaʾ from Mālik.
Then the year 232 AH began.
In it, a tribe called Banū Numayr spread corruption in al-Yamāmah, so al-Wāthiq wrote to Bughā the Elder, who was then stationed in the Ḥijāz. He fought them, killed a number of them, captured others, and routed the rest. He later confronted Banū Tamīm while he had one thousand (6) horsemen and they numbered three thousand. Lengthy battles ensued, and in the end he prevailed over them on the fifteenth of Jumādā al-Ākhirah.
After all this he returned to Baghdad with leading Arab chieftains in chains. In the engagements mentioned above he had slain more than two thousand (7) men of distinction from Banū Sulaym, Numayr, Kilāb, Murrah, Fazārah, Thaʿlabah, Ṭayyʾ, Tamīm, and others.
(1) Abu Ja‘far—according to some, Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Tamimi al-Basri—was a companion of Yazid ibn Zuray‘ and transmitted his narrations. He was a hafiz (memorizer), mujawwid (proficient reciter), and thiqah (trustworthy). He neither traveled nor wrote, relying solely on memory. Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala‘, vol. 10, p. 642.
(2) Muhammad ibn al-Minhal al-Basri al-ʿAttar was the brother of the reliable hafiz Hajjaj ibn Minhal al-Anmati. Like his namesake Muhammad ibn al-Minhal, he was thiqah (trustworthy); despite his blindness, he possessed exceptional memory and acumen. He died in the same year. Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala‘, vol. 10, p. 645.
(3) Abu ‘Ali al-Marwazi al-Baghdadi al-Khazzaz al-Darir was an exemplary imam, one of the foremost huffaz (memorizers) of his time, and a man of the Sunna. Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala‘, vol. 11, p. 129; Al-‘Ibar, vol. 1, p. 410.
(4) Yusuf ibn Yahya al-Buwayti, known as Abu Ya‘qub, was a close companion of Imam al-Shafi‘i; he studied under him for an extended period and completed his education with him. He was devout and diligent, constantly engaged in dhikr (remembrance), highly esteemed, and an authority in knowledge and jurisprudence. A reliable hafiz and man of the Sunna. Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala‘, vol. 12, p. 85; Al-‘Ibar, vol. 1, p. 411.
(5) Yahya ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Bukayr, known as Abu Zakariya al-Qurashi al-Makhzumi, was an Egyptian imam, muhaddith (hadith scholar), and hafiz (memorizer), regarded as thiqah (trustworthy) in the Layth recension. There was debate concerning his direct hearing from Malik, although he reportedly studied the Muwatta‘ with Imam Malik seventeen times. Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala‘, vol. 10, p. 612; Taqrib al-Tahdhib, vol. 2, p. 351.
(6) In manuscripts A and T the reading is “alfi faras,” whereas he upheld the variant found in manuscripts B, Za, as well as in al-Tabari and Ibn al-Athir.
(7) In the manuscript copies the reading is “an”; he confirmed the reading present in the printed edition.