ʿUbayd Allah (1) ibn Muhammad ibn Nafiʿ ibn Makram, Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Bustī, the ascetic, inherited great fortunes from his forefathers and spent them all on good works and acts that draw one near to Allah. He was devoted to worship.
It is said that for seventy years he never leaned against a wall or any object, nor rested on a pillow. He performed the Hajj from Nīshāpūr on foot and barefoot, entered al-Shām and stayed in Jerusalem for several months, then went on to Egypt and the lands of the Maghrib, from where he again made the pilgrimage. Afterward he returned to his homeland, Bust; there he still possessed some [wealth] (2) and property, so he gave the remainder away in charity.
When death approached he began to suffer and groan. He was asked, “What is this?” He replied, “I see terrifying matters before me, and I do not know how I shall escape them.”
He died in Muḥarram of this year at the age of eighty-five. On the night he passed away, a woman saw her deceased mother in a dream, dressed in fine clothes and adorned. She said, “Mother, what is this?” The mother replied, “We are celebrating a festival because the ascetic ʿUbayd Allah has arrived among us.” May Allah have mercy on him.
ʿAlī ibn ʿĪsā ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allah (3), Abū al-Ḥasan (4), the grammarian known as al-Rummānī, narrated from Ibn Durayd. He had outstanding expertise in grammar, lexicography, logic, and kalām, and he composed a large Qurʾānic commentary. He gave testimony before Ibn Maʿrūf, who accepted it, and al-Tanūkhī and al-Jawharī narrated from him.
He died at the age of eighty-eight and was buried in the Shūnīziyya cemetery near the grave of Abū ʿAlī [al-Fārisī] (5).
Ibn Khallikān said: “The nisbah al-Rummānī is derived either from selling pomegranates or from Qasr al-Rummān in Wāsiṭ (6).”
Muhammad ibn al-ʿAbbās ibn Aḥmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Furāt (7), Abū al-Ḥasan, was a chancery secretary, traditionist, and a trustworthy, reliable authority.
Al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī said: “He was reliable; he wrote extensively and gathered what no one else of his time collected. I have been informed that he wrote….”