He said: “I saw the Commander of the Believers ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib in a dream, and he said to me: ‘How fine is the humility of the rich toward the poor—yet finer still is the self-possessed pride of the poor before the rich.’ He then raised his palm to me, and in it was written:
You once were dead, then you were made to live—
and soon you shall be dead once more;
So build yourself a house in the Abode that endures,
and leave the dwelling that is bound to fade.” (1)
Ibn Baṭṭah said: “Al-Khirqī died in Damascus in the year 334 AH, and I visited his grave.” (2)
Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā (3): Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Mūsā, the Ḥanafī jurist and one of the leading scholars of Iraq in his age. He served as judge in Baghdad—first for al-Muttaqī and then for al-Mustakfī. He was trustworthy and virtuous. Thieves broke into his house, assuming he possessed great wealth. One of them struck him a grievous blow, whereupon he fled to the rooftop; in sheer panic he hurled himself to the ground and died—may Allah have mercy on him—in Rabīʿ al-Awwal of this year.
Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh (4): Abū al-Faḍl al-Sulamī, the vizier, jurist, ḥadith scholar, and poet. He heard extensively, collected and authored many works, fasted on Mondays and Thursdays, never neglected the night prayer or writing, and often begged Allah for martyrdom. Appointed vizier to the sultan, he was besieged by soldiers demanding their pay; a large crowd gathered at his gate. He called for a barber, had his head shaved, bathed, perfumed himself, donned his shroud, and stood to pray. They entered, and while he was in prostration they killed him—may Allah have mercy on him—in Rabīʿ al-Ākhir of this year. Allah, exalted is He, knows best.
Al-Ikhshīd Muḥammad ibn Ṭughj (5) ibn Juff: Abū Bakr, surnamed al-Ikhshīd, meaning “king of kings.” Al-Rāḍī conferred the title upon him because he had been the ruler of Farghāna (6); everyone who ruled that district was called al-Ikhshīd, just as whoever ruled Ushrūsana was known as al-Afshīn, the ruler of Khwārazm as Khwārazm-Shāh, the ruler of Gurgān as Ṣūl, and whoever ruled