He was the last to transmit the Musnad of Imām Aḥmad (1) from Ibn al-Ḥuṣayn (2). He came from a family renowned for jurisprudence, judgeship, and piety, and he himself was reliable, upright, and widely cited in narration. Among the verses he recited from memory are:
[Ṭawīl]
Even were Laylā beyond the very spot where the sun first rises,
while I (3) stood behind the sun at the hour it sets,
I would still (4) console my soul with hope for her favor,
and longing would whisper to me, “It is surely near.”
The Chief Judge of the Egyptian domains (5), Ṣadr al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿĪsā ibn Dirbās al-Mārānī (6) the Kurd—and Allah knows best.
[Then the year 606 AH began.]
In Muḥarram, Najm al-Dīn Khalīl (7), the leading Ḥanafī scholar, came from Damascus to Baghdad as an envoy of al-ʿĀdil, bearing many gifts. He and the Shaykh of the Niẓāmiyyah, Majd al-Dīn Yaḥyā ibn al-Rabīʿ, debated the question of whether zakāh is obligatory on the property of an orphan or an insane person. The Ḥanafī cited proofs (8) for its non-obligation, whereupon the Shāfiʿī objected; (9) each presented excellent arguments. Afterwards, robes of honor were bestowed upon the Ḥanafī and his companions—(because) of the embassy—and the debate took place in the presence of the deputy vizier, Ibn Shakar (10).
On Saturday, the fifth of Jumādā al-Ākhirah, al-Jamāl Yūnus ibn Badrān (11) al-Miṣrī, the head of the Shāfiʿīs, arrived.
(1) In the printed edition: al-Musnad.
(2) In the printed edition: Ahmad ibn al-Ḥusayn, which is incorrect. His biography was already given in Wafayāt for the year 525 AH in the preceding volume.
(3) The printed edition reads “wa kanat min,” which disrupts the metrical pattern.
(4) In manuscript B: “al-ḥadīth nafsahu,” which also breaks the meter.
(5) Chief qāḍī of judges (qāḍī al-quḍāt) for Egypt.
(6) In autograph (A) and the printed edition: “al-Mārdānī,” a corruption. Al-Dhahabī states: “The Banū Mārān established themselves at al-Murawḥ near Mosul.” (Siyar A‘lam al-Nubalā’, vol. 21, p. 475). The biography of Ibn Darbās appears in: al-Takmila li-Wafayāt al-Naqqāla’, vol. 2, p. 156; Tārīkh al-Islām, vol. 13, p. 115; Siyar A‘lam al-Nubalā’, vol. 21, p. 474; al-‘Ibar, vol. 5, p. 13; al-Nujūm al-Zāhira, vol. 6, p. 196; and Ḥusn al-Muḥāḍara, vol. 1, p. 190.
(7) He is al-Khalīl ibn Ali ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Ali, nicknamed Najm al-Dīn, qāḍī of the military district (al-‘askar) of Ḥamā, who served under al-Malik al-‘Ādil Abū Bakr ibn Ayyūb after 600 AH. He later settled in Damascus, where he taught. He died in 641 AH and was buried on Qāsiyūn. (See Tārīkh al-Islām, vol. 14, p. 380; al-Jawāhir al-Muḍiyya, vol. 2, p. 180; al-Dāris, pp. 223–224; al-Ṭabaqāt al-Saniyya, vol. 2, p. 220.)
(8) In autograph (A): “yustadall fī.”
(9) In autographs A and B: “wajāʾ.”
(10) The biography of Ibn Shukr will appear under the year 622 AH.
(11) The biography of Ibn Bidrān will appear under the year 623 AH.