of intelligence(1) and the postal service. He had memorised the Quran with [excellent] retention, possessed a pleasant voice and beautiful recitation, was agreeable in company, witty in anecdote and conversation, [refined in meaning, much given to laughter and banter]. One day he went out—together with the two Sharifs, al-Raḍī and al-Murtadā, and a number of leading dignitaries—to welcome one of the kings. Some bandits set upon them, pelting them with fire-pots (ḥarrāqāt) while shouting, “You husbands of prostitutes!” Al-Battī said, “These fellows have only attacked us because of an ʿayn (a spying eye).” They asked, “How do you know that?” He replied, “Otherwise, how would they know that we are husbands of prostitutes?”
al-Ḥasan ibn Ḥāmid ibn ʿAlī ibn Marwān (2), Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Warrāq the Hanbalī, was the instructor and jurist of Aḥmad’s followers in his era. Among his well-known works is The Comprehensive Book on the Disagreement of the Scholars, running to four hundred volumes, and also Foundations of Jurisprudence and Creed, the very text on which Judge Abū Yaʿlā ibn al-Farrāʾ studied. He enjoyed great esteem, was close to the ruler, and would eat only from what his own hand earned through copying manuscripts. He transmitted hadith from Abū Bakr al-Shāfiʿī, Ibn Mālik al-Qaṭīʿī, and others. In this year he set out for the Hajj. When the travellers grew thirsty on the road he leaned against a stone in the fierce heat. A man brought him a small amount of water. Ibn Ḥāmid asked, “Where did you get this?” The man replied, “This is no time for questions—drink!” He said, “Indeed, it is exactly the time, for I am about to meet Allah, Exalted be He.” He therefore did not drink and died immediately (may Allah have mercy on him).
al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥalīm (3), Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥalīmī, author of The Methodology in the Fundamentals of the Faith, was one of the Shāfiʿī elders. Born in Gurgān, he was taken to Bukhārā and heard a vast amount of hadith until the leadership of the traditionists of his age devolved upon him. He also served as judge in Bukhārā. Ibn Khallikān (4) said: “His authority extended to the lands beyond the River; he held commendable positions within the school, and al-Ḥākim Abū ʿAbd Allāh transmitted from him—may Allah Most High have mercy upon him.”
Fīrūz (5), Abū Naṣr, surnamed Bahāʾ al-Dawlah ibn ʿAḍud al-Dawlah the Daylamī, lord of Baghdad and Iraq, was the one who arrested al-Ṭāʾiʿ and installed al-Qādir. He delighted in confiscations and amassed a fortune the like of which no one before him had gathered.