them did not grasp his intent properly, and so they reported that he deemed it obligatory to join both washing and wiping.(1) And Allah knows best.(2)

A number of scholars composed elegies for him; among them was Ibn al-Aʿrabi, who said:
A shocking event, a momentous blow—
even the most patient hearts are too frail to endure it.
The crier who mourns all knowledge rose
when the crier of Muḥammad ibn Jarīr rose.
Bright stars, once radiant, fell from the sky;
their disappearance foretold by the signs of decline.
Night’s pitch-black cloak enveloped
their luminous, gleaming light.
The pleasant meadow turned to withered stubble;
its smooth plains became like rugged heights.
O Abū Jaʿfar, you departed praiseworthy,
never slack in diligence or resolve—
reaping abundant reward for your ijtihād
and grateful acclaim for your striving toward piety,
meriting thereby eternal life
in the Garden of Eden, in bliss and joy.(5)

Abū Bakr ibn Durayd—may Allah have mercy on him—also composed for him a lengthy, resounding elegy that al-Khaṭīb has transmitted in full. Allah, exalted is He, knows best.

[Then came the year 311 AH]

In that year Abū Ṭāhir Sulaymān ibn Abī Saʿīd al-Jannābī, the leader of the Qarmaṭians, entered Basra by night with 1,700 horsemen. He set up rope ladders of hair against its wall; his men climbed over, opened the gates, and killed everyone they met inside. Most of the townspeople fled, many throwing themselves into the water, where a great number drowned. He remained there for seventeen days, killing, taking captive its women and children, and seizing whatever wealth of its inhabitants he desired,(7) before returning to his home city of Hajar.(8)