Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ḥasnawayh—Abu Sahl al-Naysaburi, known as al-Ḥasnawi—was a Shafiʿi jurist, man of letters, and hadith scholar who busied himself only with what concerned him. May Allah have mercy on him.

Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Salih (1): Abu Bakr, the Maliki jurist. He heard hadith from Abu ʿArubah (2), al-Baghandi, Abu Bakr ibn Abi Dawud, and others; al-Burqani narrated from him. He authored works elucidating the school of Malik, the leadership of which ultimately rested with him. The post of judge was offered to him, but he refused and recommended Abu Bakr al-Razi the Hanafi (3), who likewise declined. He died in Shawwal of that same year at the age of eighty-six. May Allah, Exalted is He, have mercy on him.

[Then came the year 376 AH]

Ibn al-Jawzi said: In its month of Muharram, snakes (4) became numerous in Baghdad and many people perished. When seven days (5) of Rabiʿ al-Awwal (6) had passed—corresponding to the twentieth of Tammuz—a heavy, lightning-filled rain fell. In Rajab, prices in Baghdad soared, and news arrived that a great earthquake had struck Mosul, toppling many buildings (7) and causing a vast number of deaths.

That same year strife broke out between Ṣamṣam al-Dawla and his brother Sharaf al-Dawla. They fought, and Sharaf al-Dawla defeated him, took him captive, and entered Baghdad. The caliph met him and congratulated him on his safety. Sharaf al-Dawla then summoned a device to have Ṣamṣam al-Dawla blinded, but death overtook him first (8); the blinding was carried out after his death—one of the strangest events on record.