In that same year a fierce fire swept through the carpenters’ market in Baghdad, and the entire bazaar was destroyed.
In Dhū al-Ḥijjah of that year al-Muqtadir Billah fell ill for thirteen days; during the whole, lengthy course of his caliphate this was the only sickness he experienced.
The pilgrimage that year was led by al-Faḍl ibn ʿAbd al-Malik.
When the vizier feared that the Qarmaṭians might assault the returning pilgrims, he sent them a letter intended to occupy them with other matters and thus divert them from the caravan. Some leading figures accused him of corresponding with the Qarmaṭians, but once the facts and his real purpose became clear he gained great favor among the people.
Among the notable people who died this year was:
al-Nasaʾī (may Allah have mercy on him) (1)—Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī (2) ibn Shuʿayb ibn ʿAlī ibn Sinān ibn Baḥr ibn Dīnār, Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Nasaʾī, the author of al-Sunan. He was the foremost scholar of his age, surpassing his peers, counterparts, and the eminent men of his time. He travelled far and wide, devoting himself to the audition of hadith and to meeting the master imams. The shaykhs from whom he transmitted directly are listed in our book al-Takamīl—praise and gratitude belong to Allah—and there, too, we recorded his biography. A great multitude related hadith from him. He compiled the Sunan al-Kabīr and then distilled from it a work (3) many times smaller; by Allah’s grace we have heard both in their entirety. His writings testify to an extraordinary memory, meticulous accuracy, sincerity, faith, knowledge, and discernment.
Al-Ḥākim relates from al-Dāraqutnī: “Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Nasaʾī stands ahead of everyone of his generation mentioned in this science, and his book was called the Ṣaḥīḥ.”
Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥāfiẓ said, “Al-Nasaʾī’s criteria for narrators are stricter than those of Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj, and he was among the imams of the Muslims.” He also said, “He is the undisputed imam of hadith.”
Abū al-Ḥusayn Muḥammad ibn al-Muẓaffar al-Ḥāfiẓ said, “I heard our shaykhs in Egypt acknowledge his pre-eminence…”