ʿAlī ibn Ṭirād ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Zaynabī (1), the ʿAbbāsid vizier, Abū al-Qāsim, was the naqīb al-nuqabāʾ (supreme chief of the genealogical deputies) for the two branches (2) during the caliphate of al-Mustazhir. He also held the vizierate for al-Mustarshid and al-Muqtafī; he was dismissed and then reinstated, and no other member of the ʿAbbāsid house ever occupied the vizierate. He had heard a vast amount of ḥadīth and transmitted it (3). He died in Ramaḍān at the age of seventy-six, may Allah Most High have mercy on him (4).
Al-Zamakhsharī (5)—Maḥmūd ibn ʿUmar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar, Abū al-Qāsim al-Zamakhsharī—was the author of al-Kashshāf, a Qurʾānic commentary, al-Mufaṣṣal in grammar, and many other beneficial works. He studied ḥadīth, travelled widely in search of knowledge (6), and resided in Mecca for a time. He openly professed the Muʿtazilite creed, stated it plainly in his exegesis, and debated in its defense. He passed away in Khwarazm on the night of ʿArafah of this same year (7), may Allah have mercy on him and be pleased with him (8).
Then came the year 539 AH. In it, ʿImād al-Dīn Zangī captured Edessa (al-Ruḥā) and other fortresses in al-Jazīrah from the Franks, killed a great many of them, took numerous women captive (9), gained abundant spoils, and (10) relieved the Muslims of many severe hardships (11). May Allah reward him with the best.
(1) His biography appears in al-Muntaẓam (vol. 10, p. 109); Ibn al-Athīr (vol. 9, p. 8); al-ʿIbar (vol. 4, p. 104); and Mirʾāt al-Jinān (vol. 3, p. 269).
(2) i.e. the Alawites and the Abbasids.
(3) Not found in the Ṭ edition.
(4) Present only in the Ā edition.
(5) His biography appears in al-Muntaẓam (10/112); Maʿjam al-Udabāʾ (19/126–135); Ibn al-Athīr (9/8); Inbāh al-Ruwāt (3/265); Wafayāt al-Aʿyān (5/168–174); Talkhīṣ Majmaʿ al-Ādāb fī Maʿjam al-Alqāb (vol. 2, part 2, p. 392); al-ʿIbar (4/106); and Mirʾāt al-Jinān (3/269).
(6) Present only in the Ā edition.
(7) In the Ṭ edition: minhunā. Following this, the Ā edition reads “for ninety-six years,” and the Ṭ edition “for seventy-six years,” both erroneous and, as Ibn Kathīr clearly knew, incorrect. He was born in 467 AH—this is unanimous in all biographical sources. Ibn Khallikān even specifies: “Al-Zamakhsharī was born on Wednesday, 27 Rajab 467 AH, in Zamakhshar; he died on the night of ʿArafa in 538 AH” (Wafayāt al-Aʿyān 5/173). His age was thus about seventy-one years and four and a half months. These discrepancies may reflect marginal additions by some readers or copyists (Bashshār).
(8) The last two phrases of the final supplication are omitted in all editions except Ā.
(9) Not found in the Ā edition.
(10) In the Ṭ edition: waʾzāla (“and removed”).
(11) In the Ṭ edition: karban shadīdًا (“a severe distress”).