Muḥammad ibn Bakr ibn ʿAbd al-Razzāq said: “Abū Dāwūd had one sleeve that was wide and another that was narrow. He was asked, ‘What is this, may Allah have mercy on you?’ He replied, ‘The wide sleeve is for my books, and I have no need of the other.’ (1)

Abū Dāwūd was born in the year 202 AH. He passed away in Basra on Friday, with fourteen days remaining of Shawwāl in 275 AH, at the age of seventy-three, and was buried beside the grave of Sufyān al-Thawrī. We have already given his biography in our work al-Takmīl and have recorded the acclaim that the leading imams bestowed upon him.

As for Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm (2), Abū al-ʿAnbas al-Ṣaymarī (3) the poet, he excelled in verse, was devout, exceedingly witty, and sharp in satire. Among his fine poetry are these lines (4):

How many an invalid has lived on after hope was gone—
outlasting both physician and caller of health!
A sandgrouse may be caught yet slip away unharmed,
while destiny falls instead upon the hunter.

[Then the year 276 AH began.]

In Muḥarram of that year, ʿAmr ibn al-Layth was reinstated over the Baghdad police; his name was written on the carpets, the seats, and the curtains. In Shawwāl his name was removed, he was dismissed, and ʿUbayd Allāh ibn [ibn ʿAbd Allāh] (5) ibn Ṭāhir was appointed in his place.

During the same year, al-Muwaffaq made Ibn Abī al-Sāj governor of Adharbayjan.

That year also, Hārūn al-Shārī, the Kharijite, advanced on Mosul, encamped on the eastern bank of the Tigris, and laid siege to the city. Its notables came out to him, sought safe-conduct, and he granted it, then withdrew.

The people’s pilgrimage that year was led by Hārūn ibn Muḥammad al-ʿAbbāsī, the commander of the Two Sanctuaries and of Ṭāʾif.

When the Yemeni pilgrims were on their way home, they camped at a certain place. A flood came upon them unawares and drowned them all; not a single one escaped. Truly, we belong to Allah and to Him we return.