Born in 336 AH, he heard a vast amount of hadith, amassed an exceptionally large library, and was versed in Qur’an-recitation, jurisprudence, hadith, and grammar. He also produced several fine and beneficial works on hadith.
Al-Azhari said, “When al-Barqani dies, this discipline will be lost; I have never seen anyone more precious than he.” (1)
Another remarked, “Among the people of hadith I have never met one more devout in worship.”
He passed away on Thursday, the first of Rajab. Abū ʿAlī ibn Abī Mūsā al-Hāshimī led the funeral prayer over him, and he was laid to rest in the cemetery of the Jāmiʿ of Baghdad.
The ḥadith master Ibn ʿAsākir preserved some of his verses:
I soothe my soul by writing hadith
And thereby promise it a meeting to come.
I busy myself arranging its chapters
And ever extracting its chains without end.
At times I compile it by the shaykhs,
At times I set it forth as a musnad.
I follow al-Bukhārī upon his path,
Straining with all my effort to match his work;
And Muslim—ornament of humankind—
Whose compilation guides with Muslim clarity.
I claim no more for myself than this:
A passion that found its rightful goal.
And I hope for reward by inscribing blessings
Upon the Chosen Master, Aḥmad.
Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Saʿīd, Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Abīwardī (2)
He was one of the leading Shāfiʿī scholars and a pupil of Shaykh Abū Ḥāmid al-Isfarāyīnī. He held a teaching circle for legal opinions in the Manṣūr Mosque, taught in the Rabīʿ quarter, and served as deputy judge in Baghdad on behalf of Ibn al-Akfānī. He had studied hadith, was sound in creed, noble in conduct, eloquent of tongue, patient with poverty yet kept it concealed, and composed fine poetry.
He was, as Allah—mighty and majestic—says: “The ignorant think them rich because of their modesty; you recognize them by their mark—they do not beg of people importunately.” [al-Baqarah 2:273]
May Allah have mercy on him; he died in Jumādā al-Ākhirah and was buried in the cemetery of Bāb Ḥarb.
Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿUbayd Allah ibn Yaḥyā (3), Shaykh Abū ʿAlī al-Bandanījī
He too was among the Shāfiʿī imams and the pupils of Abū Ḥāmid al-Isfarāyīnī; none of his companions equaled him. He [studied jurisprudence and] taught, issued fatwas, and judged in Baghdad, and he was devout and God-fearing. He likewise died in Jumādā al-Ākhirah of this same year—may Allah exalted be He have mercy on him.