bounded upon something else that is itself bounded.”

Al-Aṣmaʿī said, “Because of that assertion she is a disbeliever.”

42 – al-Khalīl ibn Aḥmad, the master linguist (d. after 160 AH)

190 – Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn reported: al-Muʿaffā ibn Zakariyyā informed us; Muḥammad ibn Abī al-Azhar narrated to us; al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār narrated to me; al-Naḍr ibn Shumayl narrated to me from al-Khalīl ibn Aḥmad, who said:

“I visited Abū Rabīʿah the Bedouin—one of the most knowledgeable men I ever met—while he was standing on a roof. When we saw him we signalled the greeting of peace. He replied, ‘Istawū!’ We did not understand what he meant, so an elderly man with him explained, ‘He is telling you: irtafiʿū (rise up).’ Al-Khalīl remarked, ‘This is taken from the Almighty’s words: Then He rose toward the heaven while it was yet smoke (Q 41:11).’”

166 – I add: The compiler said, “Aḥmad ibn Abī al-Khayr informed me from Yaḥyā ibn Būsh; Abū al-Maʿizz ibn Kādish narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related….” I note that I do not know Muḥammad ibn Abī al-Azhar or Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn, and the same applies to Yaḥyā ibn Būsh.

As for Aḥmad ibn Abī al-Khayr, he is Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Abī al-Khayr Salāmah ibn Ibrāhīm al-Dimashqī, the blacksmith, as recorded in Muʿjam al-Muṣannif al-Laṭīf ⦗2/204⦘. A biography of him appears under the deaths for 678 AH in al-Shadharāt.

43 – al-Farrāʾ, the leading grammarian (d. 207 AH)

191 – Muḥammad ibn al-Jahm said: Yaḥyā ibn Ziyād al-Farrāʾ narrated to us:

“Ibn ʿAbbās commented on the verse, Then He rose toward the heaven, saying: ‘He ascended.’ It is like your saying about a man: he was sitting and then istawā standing, or he was standing and then istawā sitting; both forms are permissible in Arabic speech.”

Al-Bayhaqī included this report in Kitāb al-Ṣifāt.

167 – I remark: The chain to al-Farrāʾ is unobjectionable, for the Muḥammad ibn al-Jahm mentioned here is Ibn Hārūn.