Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān ibn Thābit

Abū al-Ḥasan al-ʿAbbās ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Faḍl al-Hāshimī recited to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūrī recited to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī recited to us: Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Miqrāḍ recited to us: Suwayd ibn Saʿīd al-Marwazī recited to us, saying: I heard Ibn al-Mubārak say:

The imam of the Muslims, Abū Ḥanīfa, has adorned the lands and those who dwell in them,

with transmitted reports and jurisprudence in hadith, like the traces of the Psalms upon the written leaf.

He has no equal in the two Easts, nor the two Wests, nor Kufa.

I saw those who censured him acting foolishly, opposing truth with feeble arguments.

Abū al-Ḥasan al-ʿAbbās ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Faḍl al-Hāshimī recited to us: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūrī recited to us: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Nakhaʿī recited to us: Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Miqrāḍ recited to us: Suwayd ibn Saʿīd al-Marwazī recited to us, saying: I heard Ibn al-Mubārak say:

The imam of the Muslims, Abū Ḥanīfa, has adorned the lands and those who dwell in them,

with transmitted reports and jurisprudence in hadith, like the traces of the Psalms upon the written leaf.

He has no equal in the two Easts, nor the two Wests, nor Kufa.

I saw those who censured him acting foolishly, opposing truth with feeble arguments.

Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan al-Rāzī narrated to us: Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Zaʿfarānī, resident of Wāsiṭ, narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Zuhayr narrated to us: Sulaymān ibn Abī Shaykh narrated to me, saying: Musāwir the copyist said: We had ample room in religion before today, until we were afflicted with the men of analogies. They rose from the market when their earnings dwindled, then employed personal judgment in poverty and distress. As for the Arabs, they ended with no stipend; among the clients are the marks of bankrupt men. Abū Ḥanīfa met him and said, “You have lampooned us; we shall satisfy you.” He sent him dirhams, and he said: When people of a town surprise us with a subtle difficulty in a legal opinion, we bring them sound analogy, firm, in the manner of Abū Ḥanīfa. When the jurist hears it, he grasps it and records it, with understanding, upon his page.

Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan al-Rāzī narrated to us: Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Zaʿfarānī, resident of Wāsiṭ, narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Zuhayr narrated to us: Sulaymān ibn Abī Shaykh narrated to me, saying: Musāwir the copyist said: We had ample room in religion before today, until we were afflicted with the men of analogies. They rose from the market when their earnings dwindled, then employed personal judgment in poverty and distress. As for the Arabs, they ended with no stipend; among the clients are the marks of bankrupt men. Abū Ḥanīfa met him and said, “You have lampooned us; we shall satisfy you.” He sent him dirhams, and he said: When people of a town surprise us with a subtle difficulty in a legal opinion, we bring them sound analogy, firm, in the manner of Abū Ḥanīfa. When the jurist hears it, he grasps it and records it, with understanding, upon his page.

Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan al-Rāzī narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Zaʿfarānī narrated to us: Ibn Abī Khaythama narrated to us: Sulaymān ibn Abī Shaykh informed me, saying: Abū Saʿīd al-Rāzī used to dispute with the Kufans and prefer the Medinans. A Kufan lampooned him, nicknamed him Sharshīr, and said:

I have questions Sharshīr cannot answer if asked about them, nor can Sharshīr’s companions. No one knows and teaches this religion except Abū Ḥanīfa, whose home is in Kufa. Do not question a Medinan, lest you expose his unbelief, except about the bass, second, and treble strings. [The final lines use polemical wordplay and names of musical strings.]

Sulaymān said: Abū Saʿīd said: I wrote to Medina, “You have been lampooned in such and such terms; respond.” A man among them answered:

I marvel at a misguided man whom fate has driven; every affair, when decreed, is determined.

He said: Medina is a land containing only singing, bass strings, and treble strings.

You have lied, by God’s life: in it lies the Prophet’s grave, and the best of men is buried there.

Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan al-Rāzī narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Zaʿfarānī narrated to us: Ibn Abī Khaythama narrated to us: Sulaymān ibn Abī Shaykh informed me, saying: Abū Saʿīd al-Rāzī used to dispute with the Kufans and prefer the Medinans. A Kufan lampooned him, nicknamed him Sharshīr, and said: I have questions Sharshīr cannot answer if asked about them, nor can Sharshīr’s companions. No one knows and teaches this religion except the Hanafis, whose homes are in Kufa. Do not question a Medinan, lest you expose his unbelief, except about the bass and second or treble strings. [The final lines use polemical wordplay and names of musical strings.] Sulaymān said: Abū Saʿīd said: I wrote to Medina, “You have been lampooned in such and such terms; respond.” A man among them answered: I marvel at a misguided man whom fate has driven; every affair, when decreed, is determined. He said: Medina is a land containing only singing, bass strings, and treble strings. You have lied, by God’s life: in it lies the Prophet’s grave, and the best of men is buried there.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the Qurʾān reciter informed us: Makram ibn Aḥmad narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Baghawī narrated to us, saying: Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Zayd al-Wāsiṭī recited to me verses by Aḥmad ibn al-Muʿaddal: If you have lied in what you told me, upon you be the sin of Abū Ḥanīfa or Zufar, who turn deliberately toward analogy and turn away from holding to transmitted reports. The dwellings are empty; practice jurisprudence in your quarter. Hypocrisy has appeared; there is no path to ʿUmar. [The wording of this verse is obscure in the digitized text.] Then Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Zayd recited to me his own rebuttal of them: If you utter falsehood against our elders, belittling Abū Ḥanīfa or Zufar, upon you be the sin of the shaykh—I mean Mālik— in his statement that wives may be penetrated anally. This is a statement transmitted from Sālim: its transmitter is declared false, and the report fabricated. [The relationship of the two halves is compressed in the Arabic.] Reliable transmitters have reported repeatedly from the Prophet a curse upon its doer in a well-known saying. In our view Abū Ḥanīfa reasons by analogy only when no sound transmitted report is available. Had ʿUmar witnessed Mālik in this matter, you would have seen whip-marks upon the shaykh’s back. [These verses are the source’s polemical claims, not independent verification of the attributed positions.]

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm the Qurʾān reciter informed us: Makram ibn Aḥmad narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Baghawī narrated to us, saying: Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Zayd al-Wāsiṭī recited to me verses by Aḥmad ibn al-Muʿaddal: If you have lied in what you told me, upon you be the sin of Abū Ḥanīfa or Zufar, who turn deliberately toward analogy and turn away from holding to transmitted reports. The dwellings are empty; practice jurisprudence in your quarter. Hypocrisy has appeared; there is no path to ʿUmar. [The wording of this verse is obscure in the digitized text.] Then Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Zayd recited to me his own rebuttal of them: If you utter falsehood against our elders, belittling Abū Ḥanīfa or Zufar, upon you be the sin of the shaykh—I mean Mālik— in his statement that wives may be penetrated anally. This is a statement transmitted from Sālim: its transmitter is declared false, and the report fabricated. [The relationship of the two halves is compressed in the Arabic.] Reliable transmitters have reported repeatedly from the Prophet a curse upon its doer in a well-known saying. In our view Abū Ḥanīfa reasons by analogy only when no sound transmitted report is available. Had ʿUmar witnessed Mālik in this matter, you would have seen whip-marks upon the shaykh’s back. [These verses are the source’s polemical claims, not independent verification of the attributed positions.]

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us: Makram narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Baghawī narrated to us: I heard ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-ʿAbbās say: I heard Abū ʿAbd Allāh Aḥmad ibn Muʾammal say: I heard Abū Sulaymān al-Jūzjānī say: I asked Mālik ibn Anas about anal intercourse with wives. He told me, “I have just washed my head after it,” gesturing toward his head. [This is the account as transmitted by the source, not an independently established statement by Mālik.]

Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us: Makram narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Baghawī narrated to us: I heard ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-ʿAbbās say: I heard Abū ʿAbd Allāh Aḥmad ibn Muʾammal say: I heard Abū Sulaymān al-Jūzjānī say: I asked Mālik ibn Anas about anal intercourse with wives. He told me, “I have just washed my head after it,” gesturing toward his head. [This is the account as transmitted by the source, not an independently established statement by Mālik.]

Abū ʿUbayd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿImrān ibn Mūsā al-Marzubānī narrated to us: al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad al-Mukharrimī narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn ʿUthmān ibn Abī Shayba narrated to us: Naṣr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Washshāʾ narrated to us: al-Faḍl ibn Dukayn narrated to us: I heard Zufar ibn al-Hudhayl say: When Ibrāhīm rose in Basra, Abū Ḥanīfa spoke out very strongly. I told him, “By God, you will not stop until we are seized and ropes are put around our necks.” Abū Nuʿaym said: Later al-Manṣūr wrote to ʿĪsā ibn Mūsā, governor of Kufa, ordering him to send Abū Ḥanīfa to Baghdad. Abū Nuʿaym said: I went in the morning to see Abū Ḥanīfa and met him riding to bid farewell to ʿĪsā; his face had almost darkened with fear. He came to Baghdad and died there at seventy. Abū Nuʿaym said: He was given a drink and died from it. I was told that when he appeared before al-Manṣūr, the latter called for sawīq and ordered him to drink. He refused. He said, “You shall drink it,” but he refused, so he compelled him until he drank. He then rose quickly. Abū Jaʿfar asked, “Where are you going?” He replied, “To where you have sent me.” He was taken to prison and died there.

Abū ʿUbayd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿImrān ibn Mūsā al-Marzubānī narrated to us: al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad al-Mukharrimī narrated to us: Muḥammad ibn ʿUthmān ibn Abī Shayba narrated to us: Naṣr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Washshāʾ narrated to us: al-Faḍl ibn Dukayn narrated to us: I heard Zufar ibn al-Hudhayl say: When Ibrāhīm rose in Basra, Abū Ḥanīfa spoke out very strongly. I told him, “By God, you will not stop until we are seized and ropes are put around our necks.” Abū Nuʿaym said: Later al-Manṣūr wrote to ʿĪsā ibn Mūsā, governor of Kufa, ordering him to send Abū Ḥanīfa to Baghdad. Abū Nuʿaym said: I went in the morning to see Abū Ḥanīfa and met him riding to bid farewell to ʿĪsā; his face had almost darkened with fear. He came to Baghdad and died there at seventy. Abū Nuʿaym said: He was given a drink and died from it. I was told that when he appeared before al-Manṣūr, the latter called for sawīq and ordered him to drink. He refused. He said, “You shall drink it,” but he refused, so he compelled him until he drank. He then rose quickly. Abū Jaʿfar asked, “Where are you going?” He replied, “To where you have sent me.” He was taken to prison and died there.

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥulwānī informed us: Makram narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Muḥammad narrated to us: Yaʿqūb ibn Shayba narrated to us: ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥasan informed me, from Bishr ibn al-Walīd: Abū Ḥanīfa died in prison and was buried in the Khayzurān cemetery. Yaʿqūb ibn Shayba said, “I was told that he died while prostrating.”

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥulwānī informed us: Makram narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Muḥammad narrated to us: Yaʿqūb ibn Shayba narrated to us: ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥasan informed me, from Bishr ibn al-Walīd: Abū Ḥanīfa died in prison and was buried in the Khayzurān cemetery. Yaʿqūb ibn Shayba said, “I was told that he died while prostrating.”

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muṭīʿ narrated to us: I heard my father say: In Abū Jaʿfar’s days I saw a man’s funeral bier in the arches of the Khurasan Gate, with a man behind it and four men carrying it. I asked, “Who is this dead man?” They said, “A man from Kufa who died in prison.” I asked his name. They said, “Abū Ḥanīfa. We are going with this man to bury him.” When we left the Khurasan Gate, it was as though a call had gone out to all creation; people gathered. We crossed with him to the other side. I prayed over him at the bridge gate. A man came forward and led the prayer. I asked who he was. They said, “A man of Banū Taym Allāh; Abū Ḥanīfa was their client.” He was buried in the Khayzurān cemetery. We could not bury him until after the afternoon prayer because of the crowd. I asked, “Why did he choose this side for burial?” He replied, “Because the other side was usurped land, and in his view this land was more wholesome. He ordered this.” Al-Manṣūr came and prayed over his grave, and people continued praying over it for more than twenty days.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn ʿAṭiyya narrated to us: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muṭīʿ narrated to us: I heard my father say: In Abū Jaʿfar’s days I saw a man’s funeral bier in the arches of the Khurasan Gate, with a man behind it and four men carrying it. I asked, “Who is this dead man?” They said, “A man from Kufa who died in prison.” I asked his name. They said, “Abū Ḥanīfa. We are going with this man to bury him.” When we left the Khurasan Gate, it was as though a call had gone out to all creation; people gathered. We crossed with him to the other side. I prayed over him at the bridge gate. A man came forward and led the prayer. I asked who he was. They said, “A man of Banū Taym Allāh; Abū Ḥanīfa was their client.” He was buried in the Khayzurān cemetery. We could not bury him until after the afternoon prayer because of the crowd. I asked, “Why did he choose this side for burial?” He replied, “Because the other side was usurped land, and in his view this land was more wholesome. He ordered this.” Al-Manṣūr came and prayed over his grave, and people continued praying over it for more than twenty days.

Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan al-Rāzī narrated to us: Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Zaʿfarānī narrated to us: Ibn Abī Khaythama narrated to us: Sulaymān ibn Abī Shaykh narrated to me, saying: Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿUmāra led the funeral prayer over Abū Ḥanīfa while serving as judge in Baghdad in the year 150.

Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan al-Rāzī narrated to us: Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Zaʿfarānī narrated to us: Ibn Abī Khaythama narrated to us: Sulaymān ibn Abī Shaykh narrated to me, saying: Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿUmāra led the funeral prayer over Abū Ḥanīfa while serving as judge in Baghdad in the year 150.

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Bazzāz informed us: Makram narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Muḥammad narrated to us: Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Marwazī narrated to us: Dāwūd ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Ḥakam ibn Maysara narrated to us, saying: We were with Muqātil ibn Sulaymān, with about five thousand men present. A man rose, turning his head right and left, and said, “People, if you consider me upright, attest to my uprightness before Muqātil.” They said, “Abū al-Ḥasan, you are upright and approved; your testimony is valid, your word accepted, and your speech truthful.” The man said, “Turn to me, Abū al-Ḥasan.” He turned. The man said, “Last night I saw in a dream someone on al-Musayyab’s minaret calling, ‘People, tonight a jurist who belongs to Paradise will die.’ This morning no jurist had died except Abū Ḥanīfa, may God be pleased with him.” The people sobbed. Muqātil said, “We belong to God and to Him we return. The one who relieved Muḥammad’s community has died.”

Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Bazzāz informed us: Makram narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Muḥammad narrated to us: Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Marwazī narrated to us: Dāwūd ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Ḥakam ibn Maysara narrated to us, saying: We were with Muqātil ibn Sulaymān, with about five thousand men present. A man rose, turning his head right and left, and said, “People, if you consider me upright, attest to my uprightness before Muqātil.” They said, “Abū al-Ḥasan, you are upright and approved; your testimony is valid, your word accepted, and your speech truthful.” The man said, “Turn to me, Abū al-Ḥasan.” He turned. The man said, “Last night I saw in a dream someone on al-Musayyab’s minaret calling, ‘People, tonight a jurist who belongs to Paradise will die.’ This morning no jurist had died except Abū Ḥanīfa, may God be pleased with him.” The people sobbed. Muqātil said, “We belong to God and to Him we return. The one who relieved Muḥammad’s community—God bless him and grant him peace—has died.”

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Khalaf ibn Sālim narrated to me: I heard Ṣadaqa al-Maqābirī, whose prayers were answered, say: When Abū Ḥanīfa was buried in the Khayzurān cemetery, I heard a voice at night for three nights: Jurisprudence is gone; you have no jurisprudence. Fear God and be worthy successors. Al-Nuʿmān has died: who now will keep the night alive when darkness falls?

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: Ibn Mughallis narrated to us: Khalaf ibn Sālim narrated to me: I heard Ṣadaqa al-Maqābirī, whose prayers were answered, say: When Abū Ḥanīfa was buried in the Khayzurān cemetery, I heard a voice at night for three nights: Jurisprudence is gone; you have no jurisprudence. Fear God and be worthy successors. Al-Nuʿmān has died: who now will keep the night alive when darkness falls?

Abū ʿUbayd Allāh al-Marzubānī narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Kāmil and ʿAbd al-Bāqī ibn Qāniʿ narrated to us, both saying: Abū Ḥanīfa died in Baghdad in Rajab or Shaʿbān of the year 150, at seventy years of age.

Abū ʿUbayd Allāh al-Marzubānī narrated to us: Aḥmad ibn Kāmil and ʿAbd al-Bāqī ibn Qāniʿ narrated to us, both saying: Abū Ḥanīfa died in Baghdad in Rajab or Shaʿbān of the year 150, at seventy years of age.

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: ʿUmar ibn Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Maymūn narrated to us: I heard al-Shāfiʿī say, “I seek blessing through Abū Ḥanīfa and come to his grave every day,” meaning as a visitor. “When I have a need, I pray two units of prayer, come to his grave, and ask God for what I need. It is fulfilled shortly thereafter.”

ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm informed us: Makram narrated to us: ʿUmar ibn Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Maymūn narrated to us: I heard al-Shāfiʿī say, “I seek blessing through Abū Ḥanīfa and come to his grave every day,” meaning as a visitor. “When I have a need, I pray two units of prayer, come to his grave, and ask God for what I need. It is fulfilled shortly thereafter.”