Ibn al-Jaṣṣāṣ (1) was, for all his riches, notoriously careless—thoroughly so in both word and deed. Numerous anecdotes are cited as proof of this. Some maintained that he acted that way only to give the impression of being a simpleton; others said he spoke thus merely in jest and light-heartedness. And Allah, exalted is He, knows best.
In this same year the following passed away:
• ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Qazwini.
• ʿAli ibn Sulayman ibn al-Fadl, Abū al-Ḥasan, al-Akhfash (2). He narrated from al-Mubarrad, Thaʿlab, al-Yazidi, and others, and from him transmitted al-Marzubani (3), al-Maʿafa, and others. Trustworthy in what he conveyed yet destitute in means, he sought the intercession of Abū ʿAli ibn Muqla, who spoke to the vizier ʿAli ibn ʿIsa about assigning him a stipend, but the vizier refused. His straits became so severe that he lived on raw turnips, and he died suddenly from eating too many of them, in Shaʿban of this very year—Allah knows best. This is al-Akhfash the Younger.
The “Middle” Akhfash (4) is Saʿid ibn Masʿada, a disciple of Sibawayh.
As for the “Elder,” he is Abū al-Khaṭṭab ʿAbd al-Ḥamid ibn ʿAbd al-Majid (5) of Hajar; he taught Sibawayh, Abū ʿUbaydah (6), and others.
• Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Sari al-Sarraj, the grammarian (7), author of “al-Usul” in grammar, as reported by Ibn al-Athir (8).
• Muhammad ibn al-Musayyab al-Arghiyani (9).