—on the fifteenth of Jumada I of that same year—at the age of eighty-eight. He was buried in his residence at Bab al-Marātib with the caliph’s permission, and his son Abu al-Fadl led the funeral prayer over him. (May Allah have mercy upon him.)
Abu Yusuf al-Qazwini (1) — ʿAbd al-Salam ibn Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Bundar — was the leading figure of the Muʿtazilites. He studied under ʿAbd al-Jabbar ibn Ahmad al-Hamadani, then traveled to Egypt, where he remained for forty years. There he amassed a vast library and composed a Qurʾanic commentary in seven hundred volumes. Ibn al-Jawzi (2) said, “He gathered astonishing material in it, and he dedicated an entire volume to the verse, ‘And they followed what the devils had recited during Solomon’s kingship’ (Qurʾan 2:102).” Ibn ʿAqil remarked, “His tongue was sharp — at times with learned discourse, at other times with poetry. He heard hadith from Abu ʿAmr ibn Mahdi and others. He died in Baghdad at the age of ninety-six, and he did not marry until the very end of his life.”
Abu Shujaʿ the Vizier (3) — Muhammad ibn al-Husayn ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Ibrahim, known as Abu Shujaʿ and entitled Ẓahir al-Din, originally from Rudhrāwar (4) and born in Ahwaz — was one of the finest ministers. He was lavish in charity and benevolence toward scholars and jurists. He studied hadith under Shaykh Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi and others, and he authored several works, including the supplement he appended to “Tajārib al-Umam” (The Experiences of Nations). He served as vizier to the caliph al-Muqtadī bi-Amr Allah. Possessing six hundred thousand dinars, he spent all of it on good works and almsgiving: establishing distinguished endowments, building shrines, and showing abundant kindness to widows and orphans.
A man once said to him, “Next to us lives a woman with four orphans who are naked and hungry.” The vizier immediately sent one of his confidants with money, clothing, and food for them; then he removed his own garments in the biting cold and said, “By Allah, I shall not wear them again until you return and tell me about their condition.” The man hurried off, fulfilled the mission, and delivered the aid. He then came back — the vizier was trembling from the cold — and told him that the family had rejoiced and prayed for him. Only then did the vizier put his clothes back on.
On another occasion a large tray of sugar-soaked qaṭāʾif was brought to him. When it was set before him, he lost his appetite, thinking of those who could not afford such food. He sent the entire quantity — and it was exceedingly great — to the mosques, where it was distributed among the poor and the blind until none of it remained.