even the light of day (1). The envoy and his companion were then stationed before the Caliph at a distance of roughly one hundred cubits. The vizier, ‘Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-Furat, stood before the Caliph, with the interpreter positioned below the vizier. The Caliph addressed the vizier, the vizier spoke to the interpreter, and the interpreter relayed their words back and forth. Next, the Caliph invested the two of them with robes of honor (2) and granted them fifty saqraqs (money purses), each saqraq containing five thousand dirhams. They were escorted from his presence and paraded through the rest of the palace; on the banks of the Tigris stood elephants, giraffes, beasts of prey, cheetahs, and other animals. This was among the most extraordinary happenings of that year.
That year the people were led in the pilgrimage by al-Fadl al-Hashimi.
[Among the notable deaths of that year]
Sulayman ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad, Abu Musa (3), the Kufan grammarian known as al-Hamid (4). He accompanied Tha‘lab (5) for forty years and succeeded him in his study circle. He authored “Gharib al-Hadith,” “The Creation of Man,” “Wild Beasts,” and “Plants,” and he was a devout, righteous man. Abu ‘Umar al-Zahid (6) narrated from him. He died in Baghdad in Dhu al-Hijjah of that year and was buried at Bab al-Tibn (7).
Also passing away were ‘Abd Allah ibn Shirawayh the hadith master (8), ‘Imran ibn Mujashi‘ (9), and Abu Khalifah al-Fadl ibn al-Hubab (10).
(1) In the printed edition: Neither of them has any value, nor can their price be determined.
(2) In the printed edition: When he had finished with both, he removed them.
(3) Tabaqat al-Nahwiyyīn wa-al-Lughawiyyīn, p. 170, which includes Muhammad ibn Sulaymān—contrary to the commonly held view. Also see: Ṭārīkh Baghdād, vol. 9, p. 61; Al-Ansāb, vol. 4, p. 30; Nuzhat al-Albāb, pp. 165–166; Al-Muntaẓam, vol. 6, p. 145; Mu‘jam al-Udabā’, vol. 11, pp. 253–255; Al-Lubāb, vol. 1, p. 271; Wafayāt al-A‘yān, vol. 2, p. 406; Al-Nujūm al-Zāhira, vol. 3, p. 193.
(4) In the printed edition it appears as “al-Jāḥiẓ,” which is a scribal error. He was actually called al-Ḥāmiḍ (the “sour”) because of his fierce disposition. See Wafayāt al-A‘yān, vol. 2, p. 406.
(5) The biography of Tha‘lab was already included under the year 291 AH in this same work (Wafayāt al-A‘yān).
(6) His biography will appear under the year 345 AH in Wafayāt al-A‘yān.
(7) In the printed edition it reads “At-Tīn” (the fig), which is a miswriting. At-Tabn (with the nun written with a subscript dot) was a major district in Baghdad. See Mu‘jam al-Buldan, vol. 1, pp. 306–307.
(8) In the printed edition: “ʿAbd Allāh Bishrawī,” which is incorrect. He is ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Shirawīh. His biography is in Siyar A‘lam al-Nubalā’, vol. 14, pp. 166–168.
(9) Imrān ibn Mūsā ibn Majāshi‘, a hadith scholar of Jurjān in his time. See his biography in Siyar A‘lam al-Nubalā’, vol. 14, pp. 136–137.
(10) He was an imam, a distinguished scholar (‘allāma), a hadith scholar, a man of letters, and a transmitter; he lived to be one hundred years old, minus a few months. See Siyar A‘lam al-Nubalā’, vol. 14, pp. 7–11.