the book, so that the issues are obtained like the headings of the chapters.
And in Allah [I seek protection and] seek aid in what I intend, and upon Him I rely in what I entrust, and Him I ask to [grant us success] and to make our endeavor a means of drawing near to Him and a means of being favored in His sight, through His mercy.
So we say, [and with Allah is success]:
(Abu al-Qasim Umar ibn al-Husayn ibn Abd Allah ibn Ahmad al-Khiraqi—may Allah have mercy upon him—said):
The Qadi, the Imam Abu Ya'la—may Allah have mercy upon him—said: Al-Khiraqi was an expert scholar, proficient in the school of Abu Abd Allah, and he was a man of religion and possessed of piety.
The Qadi Abu al-Husayn said: He had many works on the school of thought, but none of them were circulated except the "Mukhtasar" (Abridgment) in Fiqh, because he left the City of Peace (Baghdad) when the reviling of the Companions appeared therein, and he deposited his books in the alley of Sulayman, [and the house and the books therein burned down].
He studied knowledge under those who studied it under Abu Bakr al-Marwudhi, Harb al-Kirmani,
(17) Omitted from MS M. (18) Omitted from the original (MS A). (19) He means Abu Ya'la Muhammad ibn al-Husayn ibn Muhammad, Ibn al-Farra', al-Hanbali, the scholar of his time in the principles and branches [of jurisprudence], who died in the year 458 AH. His son provided a comprehensive biography of him in Tabaqat al-Hanabilah 2/193-230. (20) Ibn Abi Ya'la did not transmit this in his biography of him in Tabaqat 2/75-118. (21) Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Khalaf al-Farra', Ibn Abi Ya'la, meaning in Tabaqat al-Hanabilah 2/75. (22) In Tabaqat: "circulated". (23) In Tabaqat: "from". (24) Did not appear in Tabaqat. (25) In MS M: "house"; what is established in the original and Tabaqat is "alley". (26) In Tabaqat: "The house in which the books were kept burned down, and they had not been circulated due to his distance from the city." (27) Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hajjaj al-Marwudhi was the most prominent of Imam Ahmad's companions, and it was he who oversaw the closing of his eyes when he died, as well as washing him. He narrated many issues from him; he died in the year 275 AH. Tabaqat al-Hanabilah 1/56-63, al-'Ibar 2/54. (28) Abu Muhammad Harb ibn Isma'il ibn Khalaf al-Hanzali al-Kirmani, a man of high stature who used to write down in his own handwriting the issues he heard from
