He was also the father of Imām al-Ḥaramayn Abū al-Maʿālī ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abī Muḥammad. His lineage goes back to a tribe called Sinbis, and Juwayn is a village in the environs of Nīshāpūr. He travelled through many lands to hear hadith from numerous scholars, studied belles-letters with his father, and pursued jurisprudence under Abū al-Ṭayyib Sahl ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣuʿlūkī. He then went to Merv to study with Abū Bakr ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad al-Qaffāl, after which he returned to Nīshāpūr and convened a formal circle for scholarly debate. Held in great reverence, only serious discourse was permitted in his presence. He composed a large number of works in various disciplines and was a devout, ascetic man of extreme scrupulousness—so much so that he would sometimes pay his zakāh twice. I have mentioned him in my Tabaqāt al-Shāfiʿiyyah and recorded the words of the leading scholars in his praise. He passed away in Dhū al-Qaʿdah.

Ibn Khallikān (1) writes: “He authored al-Tafsīr al-Kabīr, which embraces many branches of knowledge. In jurisprudence he wrote al-Tabsirah, al-Tadhkirah, Mukhtaṣar al-Mukhtaṣar, al-Farq wa-l-Jamʿ, al-Silsilah, and other works besides.” He was an authority in fiqh, legal theory, Arabic language, and literature. He died in this year, though some say in 434 AH, as al-Samʿānī records in his Kitāb al-Ansāb (2). He departed this life in the prime of manhood—may Allah have mercy on him and on us by His grace and mercy.

[Then came the year 439 AH]

Among its events:
• King Ṭughril Beg the Seljuq and Abū Kālījār, the ruler of Baghdad, concluded a peace treaty. Ṭughril Beg married Abū Kālījār’s daughter, while Abū Manṣūr ibn Abī Kālījār married the daughter of King Dāwūd, Ṭughril Beg’s brother.

• The Kurds captured Surkhāb, brother of Abū al-Shawk, brought him before Ibrāhīm Yannāl, and he ordered that one of Surkhāb’s eyes be gouged out.

• Abū Kālījār seized the territory of al-Baṭīḥah, while its lord Abū Naṣr escaped with his life.

• A man known as al-Aṣfar al-Taghlibī appeared, claiming to be one of the figures mentioned in the books. He misled a host of people, moved against Byzantine lands, and pillaged great wealth, thereby gaining power and renown. Eventually he was captured and brought before Naṣr al-Dawlah ibn Marwān, the ruler of Diyār Bakr, who imprisoned him and sealed the prison door upon him (3).

• A severe epidemic broke out in ʿIrāq, al-Jazīrah, and Baghdad—caused by the carcasses of the many beasts that had died. Countless people perished, the markets emptied, prices soared, and the items required by the sick became scarce; and a letter arrived from