to the lands of Byzantium in safety; and whoever chose to remain among them on his own faith had to abide by the conditions stipulated for them—conditions that went beyond the clauses of the ʿUmariyyah (the Pact of ʿUmar). Among these were that they should hang wooden crosses on their chests, each cross weighing four ratls, and that the Jews should carry a calf’s head weighing six ratls. When entering the public bath, each was to wear around his neck a qarmiyyah weighing five ratls, fitted with bells, and they were forbidden to ride horses.
After all this he ordered the rebuilding of the churches he had demolished, and he even permitted those who had embraced Islam to recant and return to their former religion.
He said: “We deem our mosques too pure to be entered by anyone whose intention is insincere [and whose inner state is unknown] (1). May Allah disgrace him.”
Among the notable figures who died this year was Abū Muḥammad al-Bāfī (2)—mentioned previously (3); his name (4) was ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Bāfī al-Bukhārī al-Khwarizmī—one of the leading Shāfiʿī imams of his age. He studied under Abū al-Qāsim al-Dārakī and taught in his place. He also had a fine command of literature, eloquence, and poetry. On one occasion he came to visit a friend but did not find him [at home] (5), so he wrote:
We have arrived, yet the meeting is not decreed;
we ask Allah to bring forth good from this parting.
If we are absent, you are not, and if we are not absent, you are—
as though our separation were by mutual accord. (6)
He died in Muḥarram of this year, and his full biography is given in “The Layers of the Shāfiʿīs.”
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn: Abū al-Qāsim, the Qurʾān-reciter known as al-Ṣaydilānī. He was the last trustworthy transmitter to relate from Ibn Ṣāʿid, and al-Azharī narrated from him. He was upright, reliable, and devout. He passed away in Rajab of this year, having exceeded ninety years of age (7); may Allah Most High have mercy on him.
al-Babbaghāʾ [the poet] (8): ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Naṣr ibn Muḥammad, Abū al-Faraj al-Makhzūmī, the poet, nicknamed al-Babbaghāʾ.