among the caliphs did anyone enjoy a longer reign than the Umayyad al-Nāṣir, for his rule endured fifty years—apart from al-Mustanṣir, son of [al-Ẓāhir son of] (1) al-Ḥākim, the Fatimid sovereign of Egypt, whose tenure reached sixty years, as will be explained in its appropriate place.

Among the notable figures who died in that same year were:

Abū Sahl ibn Ziyād al-Qaṭṭān (2) — Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ziyād, known as Abū Sahl, al-Qaṭṭān. He was reliable and well-versed in ḥadīth, devoted to frequent recitation of the Quran, and adept at extracting its meanings. Thus he argued for the disbelief of the Muʿtazilah by citing the Almighty’s words: “O you who believe! Do not be like those who disbelieved and said of their brothers, when they traveled through the land or went forth to battle, ‘Had they stayed with us, they would not have died or been slain.’” (Āl ʿImrān 3:156).

Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAlī ibn Ismāʿīl (3) ibn Bayān, Abū Muḥammad (4) al-Khūṭabī. He heard ḥadīth from al-Ḥārith ibn Abī Usāmah, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad, al-Kudaymī and others; al-Dāraquṭnī and other leading preservers transmitted from him. Trustworthy, erudite and distinguished, he was knowledgeable about the chronicles of peoples and caliphs and composed a year-by-year history. An accomplished man of letters—intelligent, judicious and truthful—he died in Jumādā al-Ākhirah of this year at the age of eighty-one. (May Allah have mercy on him.)

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd (5) ibn ʿUbayd Allāh (6) ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd ibn Abī Maryam, Abū Bakr al-Qurashī, al-Warrāq, known as Ibn Fuṭays. Renowned for his fine handwriting, he copied ḥadīth for Ibn Jawṣā (7). Ibn ʿAsākir includes his biography and records his death on the second of Shawwāl of this year (8).