and went to perform the prayer. He stood in prayer, imploring Allah—exalted is He—at the time of the midday siesta. At that very hour the deputy governor of Egypt—most probably Ahmad ibn Tulun—was himself asleep for his siesta and saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in a dream saying to him, “You are resting here while the three Muhammads have nothing with which to live!” The emir awoke, asked, “Which of the hadith scholars are here?” and was told of those three. He immediately dispatched to them one thousand dinars, which were brought straight in to them, and by this Allah removed their hardship and eased their condition. (1)

Muhammad ibn Nasr reached an advanced age and would beseech Allah for a child. One day a man came to him bearing the good news that a male child had been born to him. He raised his hands, praised and extolled Allah, and recited, “All praise is for Allah who has granted me, despite old age, Ismaʿil” (Qur’an 14:39). Those present derived several lessons from the incident: first, that a son had been granted to him in his old age after many supplications; second, that he named the child on the very day of his birth, just as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ named his own son Ibrahim before the seventh day; and third, that he followed the example of the Friend of Allah by naming his firstborn Ismaʿil.

Musa ibn Harun ibn ʿAbd Allah (2), Abu ʿImran—whose father was known as al-Jammal—was born in 214 AH. He heard hadith from Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Yahya ibn Maʿin, and others. He was the leading scholar of his age in memorizing hadith, assessing narrators, and exact precision. Trustworthy, profoundly scrupulous, and deeply revered, he commanded great respect. ʿAbd al-Ghani ibn Saʿid, the Egyptian hadith master, said, “The most eloquent in commenting on hadith were ʿAli ibn al-Madini, then Musa ibn Harun, then al-Daraqutni.” (3)

Then came the year 295 AH. In that year a prisoner exchange took place between the Muslims and the Byzantines, and—praise be to Allah—about three thousand Muslim men and women were ransomed. In mid-Safar of the same year, Ismaʿil ibn Ahmad al-Samani, the ruler of Khurasan [and Transoxiana] (4), passed away. Intelligent and just, he was exemplary in his conduct toward his subjects—patient, wise, generous, and widely praised. He was the one who used to bestow kindness upon Muhammad ibn Nasr al-Marwazi, honoring and venerating him, showing him respect, and even standing for him in the assembly of his kingship.