ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Shīrāzī, privately between the two of us, said: “How badly I need that inkwell; I could sell it and benefit from the proceeds.” I asked, “And what would the Vizier do with it?” He replied, “He can shove it into his mother’s private parts.” The Vizier happened to overhear this—for he had been listening to us without our noticing. That evening he sent the inkwell with its stand to Abū Muḥammad al-Shīrāzī, together with ten garments and five thousand dirhams, and had another one made for himself.
We gathered again on another day while he was signing documents with the new inkwell. Looking at us he said, “Whichever of you wants it may take it, and you are entirely excused from coming to thank me.” We felt ashamed and realized that he had heard our conversation that day. We said, “Rather, may Allah let the Vizier enjoy it and keep him alive to bestow a thousand more like it.”
Abū Muḥammad al-Muhallabī died in this same year ⦗1⦘ at the age of sixty-four.
Daʿlaj ibn Aḥmad ibn Daʿlaj ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ⦗2⦘—Abū Muḥammad, the Sijistānī, the well-accredited—studied hadith in Khurasan, Hulwān, Baghdad, Basra, Kufa, and Mecca. He was wealthy and renowned for piety and generosity. He endowed perpetual charities and provided regular stipends for the hadith scholars of Baghdad, Mecca, and Sijistān, and he owned a magnificent house in Baghdad. He used to say, “There is nothing like it in all the world: there is nothing like Baghdad in the world, nothing like al-Qaṭīʿah in Baghdad, nothing like the lane of Abū Khalaf in al-Qaṭīʿah, and nothing like my house in the lane of Abū Khalaf.”
Al-Darqutnī compiled a Musnad for him, and whenever he was uncertain about a hadith he would omit it. Al-Darqutnī would say, “I have never seen among our teachers anyone more reliable than he.”
He spent enormous sums on people of knowledge and on those in need. A certain merchant once borrowed ten thousand dinars from him, pledging estates as collateral. Within three years the man earned thirty thousand dinars, set aside ten thousand of them, and brought the sum to Daʿlaj, who hosted him with great hospitality. When the meal was over Daʿlaj asked, “What brings you here?” The man replied, “The dinars with which you favored me have arrived.” Daʿlaj said, “Glory be to Allah! I did not give them to you so that you would return them; make good use of them for your family.” The man said, “I have profited thirty thousand dinars with them, and this is part of that.” Daʿlaj responded, “Take it back; may Allah bless it for you.” The man asked, “How can your wealth bear such generosity, and from where did you acquire all this money?” Daʿlaj answered, “When I was young and seeking hadith, a seafaring merchant came to me and placed one million dirhams in my hands, saying, ‘Trade with this. Whatever profit arises is between you and me, and any loss is on me alone. You are bound by Allah’s covenant and pledge that if you ever find yourself in need or