He was born in Córdoba in 578 AH, studied extensively there, produced an abridgement of the two Ṣaḥīḥs, and composed a commentary on Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim entitled al-Mufhim, which contains many fine, beneficial, and carefully researched points. May Allah have mercy on him.
al-Kamāl Isḥāq ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿUthmān (1) was one of the senior Shāfiʿī scholars; Shaykh Muḥyī al-Dīn al-Nawawī (2) and others studied under him. He taught at the Rawāḥiyya (3) and died in Dhū al-Qaʿda of this very year (4).
al-ʿImād Dāwūd ibn ʿUmar ibn Yaḥyā ibn ʿUmar ibn Kāmil (5), known as Abū al-Maʿālī and Abū Sulaymān al-Zubaydī, first of Jerusalemite then Damascene affiliation, served as the preacher of Bayt al-Ābār (6). He delivered the Friday sermon in the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus for six years after Shaykh ʿIzz al-Dīn ibn ʿAbd al-Salām vacated the post, and he lectured at the Ghazāliyya (7) before being removed from it. He then returned to Bayt al-Ābār, where he died.
ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥusayn (8), Ṣadr al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥasan ibn al-Nayyār, was Shaykh al-Shuyūkh in Baghdad. He had initially served as tutor to the caliph al-Mustaʿṣim Billāh; when the caliphate devolved upon him (9), the shaykh attained eminent standing.
(1) Biography – al-Kamal Ishaq – in Tahdhib al-Asma wal-Lughat (vol. 1, p. 180), Tarikh al-Islam (vol. 14, p. 635), and al-Ibar (vol. 5, p. 205) under the deaths for 650 AH. Both were disciples of al-Nawawi and both from Jerusalem; the first adds that he was Moroccan. See also Tabaqat al-Subki (vol. 5, p. 50) – al-Husayniyya – Tabaqat al-Isnawi (vol. 1, p. 141), al-Daris (vol. 1, pp. 21, 25, then 274), and Shadharāt al-Dhahab (vol. 7, p. 430) under the deaths of 650.
(2) His biography will be included under the deaths for the year 676 AH in this volume, God willing.
(3) Badran says: “It was east of the Ibn ‘Urwa Mosque, which is part of the Umayyad Mosque, adjacent on the north to Jirun, on the west to al-Zawila‘iyya, and on the south to al-Sayfiyya al-Hanbaliyya.” I note that I visited the site of this school and found that it has become a private residence. Munadamat al-Atlal (p. 100).
(4) Manuscripts A and B: his death occurred in Dhu al-Qa‘da of that year.
(5) Biography – al-Imad al-Zubaydi – at the end of Mir’āt al-Zaman (vol. 1, p. 126), Tarikh al-Islam (vol. 14, p. 804), al-Ibar (vol. 5, p. 229), Tabaqat al-Isnawi (vol. 1, pp. 142–143), al-Daris (vol. 1, p. 415), and Shadharāt al-Dhahab (vol. 7, p. 475).
(6) Bayt al-Abbār (literally “House of Wells”): a village that formed a district (kura) in the Ghouta of Damascus, comprising several hamlets and having its own qadi; it produced several scholars. It lay east of Jaramana and remained inhabited until the tenth century AH, after which it fell into ruin. Its ruins are now called Tell Umm al-Ibar, on the ‘Aqrabani River between al-Muqassimayn on the road to al-Mallihah, west of Dayr Khalil. See Mu‘jam al-Buldan (vol. 1, p. 519) and Ghouta Dimashq (pp. 120, 160).
(7) The Ghazaliyya School at the Umayyad Mosque, north of the mashhad of ‘Uthman. Originally known as the Shaykh Nasr al-Maqdisi School, it later took the name of Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, who stayed there during his visit to Damascus after being forbidden to reside in the Khanqah al-Samīsāṭīya. Several scholars taught there, including Imad al-Din Khatib of Bayt al-Abbar. Teaching ceased there in the era of Timur (Tamerlane). See al-‘Alaq al-Khatira (pp. 246–247), al-Daris (vol. 1, p. 413) and its abridgment (pp. 64–65), and Munadamat al-Atlal (pp. 134–135).
(8) Biography of Ibn al-Nayyar in Tarikh al-Islam (vol. 14, p. 832) and in other sources (Bishar).
(9) Present only in the Ṭa’ manuscript.