'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak
(118/736 - 181/797), a renowned Khorasani scholar
from Qadi 'Iyad'sTartib al-Madarik
translated by Aisha Bewley
He was the client of the Banu Tamim, then the Banu Hanifa. His kunya was Abu 'Abdu'r-Rahman.
He listened to Ibn Abi Layla, Hisham ibn 'Urwa, al-A'mash, Sulayman at-Tamimi, Humayd at-Tawil, Yahya ibn Sa'id, Ibn 'Awn, Musa ibn 'Uqba, the two Sufyans, al-Awza'i, Ibn Abi Dhib, Malik, Ma'mar, Shu'ba, and Haywa ibn Shurayh, and he studied with Abu 'Amr ibn al-'Ala', al-Layth and others.
Ibn Mahdi, 'Abdu'r-Razzaq, Yahya ibn al-Qattan, Ibn Wahb and others related from him.
Ibn Wahb said, "Ibn al-Mubarak listened to all our shaykhs except 'Amr ibn al-Harith."
Ash-Shirazi said, "He learned fiqh with Malik and ath-Thawri, and he was the first of Abu Hanifa's companions. Then he left him and abandoned his madhhab."
Ibn Waddah said, "In the end, he avoided mentioning Abu Hanifa in his books, and he did not read his work to people."
Concerning his position in knowledge and praise of him
Abu Ishaq al-Fazzari said, "Ibn al-Mubarak was the Imam of the Muslims." Al-Fazzari used to sit in front of him and ask him questions."
Ibn Mahdi said, "I met four fuqaha': Malik, Shu'ba, Sufyan and Ibn al-Mubarak. (One of them had 'Hammad' in place of Shu'ba.) I did not see anyone with better counsel for the community than Ibn al-Mubarak. If Ibn al-Mubarak did not acknowledge a hadith, we would not acknowlege it."
Ibn Mahdi was asked about him and and ath-Thawri and which of them was better. He said, "Ibn al-Mubarak."
He was asked, "And if the people disagree with you?" He replied, "The people have not made any tests. I have not see the like of Ibn al-Mubarak."
He said, "Ibn al-Mubarak related to us, and he was unique."
When Sufyan ibn 'Uyayna was told that Ibn al-Mubarak had died, he said, "May Allah have mercy on him. He was a man of fiqh, knowledge, worship, asceticism, and generosity. He was courageous and a poet."
He also said, "No one has come to us like Ibn al-Mubarak and Ibn Abi Ziyada."
Muhammad ibn al-Mu'tamir said, "When ath-Thawri died, I asked my father, 'Who is the faqih of the Arabs?" He replied, "Ibn al-Mubarak."
Al-Awza'i said to Abu 'Uthman al-Kalbi about him, "If I had seen him, I would have been delighted."
An-Nasa'i said, "There was not known in the time of Ibn al-Mubarak anyone more glorious or excellent than him nor anyone who had more virtues than he possessed."
Salam ibn Muti' said, "No one like him came in the east afterwards. I prefer Ibn al-Mubarak to ath-Thawri."
Ibn Waddah said, "I listened to a group of the people of knowledge relate, 'Knowledge, taqwa, hadith, recognition of the men, poetry, generosity, worship and scrupulousness were comibined in Ibn al-Mubarak.
The Beginning of his quest, the reason for his asceticism and the sum of his virtues and knowledge
Qadi Abu'l-Fadl said that as-Sadafi mentioned, "When Ibn al-Mubarak came of age, his father sent him 50,000 to use for commerce. He sought after knowledge until he had spent the money. When it was gone, his father met him and said, 'What have you bought?' He brought out his books for him and said, 'This is my trade.' His father went into the house and gave him 30,000 dirhams more and said, 'Take this and follow your trade with them,' and he spent them."
Ibn al-Mubarak said, "I studied adab for thirty years and I studied knowledge for twenty years."
Ibn Hanbal said, "In the time of Ibn al-Mubarak, there was no one who sought after knowledge more than him. He went to the Yemen, Egypt, Syria, the Hijaz, Basra and Kufa, and whoever related knowledge and was worthy of it. He wrote from young men and old men. He omitted what was rare. He gave hadiths from books."
Ibn Waddah said, "Ibn al-Mubarak related about 25,000 hadiths. He was asked, 'Up until when did you study knowledge?' He said, 'I hope that you will find me doing that until I die."
Yahya ibn Yahya al-Laythi said, "A man with good deportment came one day to Malik. I used to see Malik say to him, 'Come here.' Then he made room for him in his assembly, and I did not see Malik make room for anyone else. He sat Ibn al-Mubarak near him. Sometimes Malik was asked about a question and he answered it. Then he would lean over to the man and say to him, 'What do your companions say about it?' The man would reply softly so we could not hear or understand. I saw him do that for some days, and I admired the adab of the man. I did not see him ask about anything until he departed. He was content with what he heard and Malik told us, 'This is Ibn al-Mubarak, the faqih of Khorasan.'"
One day Ibn al-Mubarak prayed at the side of Abu Hanifa. Ibn al-Mubarak began to lift his hands in each takbir. Abu Hanifa said to him, 'Do you want to fly?' He replied, 'If I had wanted to, I would have flown in the first one.'"
He said, "The ascetic is the one who is not happy when he gets this world and is not sad if he lacks it."
Ibn Shahin said, "Ibn al-Mubarak was with Hammad ibn Zayd and greeted him. The people of hadith went to Hammad to ask Ibn al-Mubarak to give them hadith. Ibn al-Mubarak said, 'Glory be to Allah! Shall I give hadith while you are present?' He said, 'I beg you to do it,' or words to that effect. He said, 'Abu Isma'il Hammad ibn Zayd related to us,' and did not give any hadith except from him."
Ibn al-Mubarak used to say, "The beginning of knowledge is the intention, then listening, then understanding, then action, then preservation, and then spreading it."
It was said, "He went on hajj one year and raiding the next year. Whenever he came to Madina, he said to its shaykhs among the people of knowledge and decrease. Whoever wants to go on hajj, come out with me. Their provision is enough for them. He did the same when he went on raids."
Al-Fasawi the worshipper said, "I was with Ibn al-Mubarak raiding on a cold, rainy night. He wept and I said, 'Are you weeping for the like of this?' He said, 'I am weeping for the previous nights which did not have the like of this hardship so that we could be rewarded for them.'"
Ibn al-Musayyab said, "Ibn al-Mubarak sent 70,000 dirhams to Abu Bakr ibn 'Ayyash and said, 'Use it to stop the lack of censure of you.'"
Nu'aym ibn Hammad said, "Ibn al-Mubarak used to stay in his house a lot. He was asked, 'Are you isolating yourself?' He said, 'How can I isolate myself when I am with the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his Companions?'"
He related that Iblis came to Ibn al-Mubarak when he was doing wudu' and said, "You did not wipe.'" He said, "I did wipe." He said, "You did not wipe." He said, 'You are a claimant, so present your proof.'"
Ibn al-Mubarak said to one of his companions, "Do not neglect a day which Allah has mentioned in 63 places in His Book."