to bow, like one performing rukūʿ (the bowing posture in prayer) before the monarch (1). He therefore entered with his back first and walked in reverse toward the emperor; when he reached him, he turned, offered his salutations, and the emperor immediately recognized his intelligence and the lofty rank of his knowledge and understanding, and so held him in great esteem.

It is also reported that the emperor placed before him a musical device known as the organ (2), hoping thereby to unsettle his mind. When the judge al-Baqillānī heard it, he feared that some unbecoming movement might appear from him in the emperor’s presence. He therefore exerted himself until he wounded his own foot, so that much blood flowed; the pain occupied him and kept him from the music, and no trace of frivolity or light-mindedness showed upon him. The emperor was astonished at the perfection of his composure. When he inquired into the matter and learned that al-Baqillānī had deliberately injured himself to divert his attention from the music, he became certain of the man’s abundant learning (3) and lofty understanding (4)—for that instrument moves everyone who hears it to gaiety, whether he wishes or not.

On another occasion, a bishop asked him in the emperor’s presence: “What became of your Prophet’s wife, and how was the matter of the slander against her resolved?” Al-Baqillānī answered without hesitation: “Two women were spoken of dishonorably: Mary and ʿĀʾishah. Allah cleared them both. This one (5) had a husband yet bore no child, while that one (6) bore a child though she had no husband.” In other words, ʿĀʾishah is even more worthy of exoneration than Mary—may Allah have mercy on him. Both are innocent of what was alleged against them. If a corrupt mind can admit the possibility of suspicion concerning this one, it will entertain it concerning that one even more readily; yet, praise be to Allah, both are pure, acquitted from the heavens by revelation from Allah—exalted is He—may He be pleased with her.

Al-Baqillānī heard ḥadīth from Abū Bakr ibn Mālik al-Qaṭīʿī, Abū Muḥammad ibn Māsī, and others. On one occasion al-Dāraquṭnī kissed him between the eyes and said, “This man refutes the falsehood of the people of desire,” and he supplicated for him.

Al-Baqillānī died on Saturday with seven (7) days remaining in Dhū al-Qaʿdah. He was buried in his house and later transferred to the cemetery of Bāb Ḥarb.

Muḥammad (8) ibn Mūsā ibn Muḥammad, Abū Bakr al-Khwārazmī, was the shaykh and leading jurist of the Ḥanafīs. He studied under Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī al-Rāzī, and the leadership of the Ḥanafīs in Baghdad ultimately came to rest with him. He was greatly esteemed by the rulers, and from