ʿAbd al-Bāqī b. Yūsuf b. ʿAlī b. Ṣāliḥ Abū Ṭūrāb al-Birāʾī. He was born in the year 401 AH. He took fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) lessons from Abū Ṭayyib al-Ṭabarī. He also listened to ḥadīth from him and others. Then he went to and settled in Nishapur. He memorized many stories and legends. Following the path of the salaf (the pious predecessors), he was a patient person who lived with very little worldly possessions. When the decree appointing him as the judge of Hamadan arrived, he said: "I am waiting for the divine decree that will come through Azrael. I swear by Allah that sitting here with peace of heart for one hour is more pleasing to me than owning the dominion of the two Iraqs. Teaching a matter to a student is more beloved to me than possessing all the things on earth. I swear by Allah that a heart attached to the world and the people of the world will never be saved. Knowledge is only a proof. Whoever acquires knowledge but does not make himself ascetic towards the world and the people of the world has not truly acquired knowledge. What he has acquired is only outward knowledge. Whereas behind this there is another beneficial knowledge. I swear by Allah that if my hands and feet were cut off, and my eyes were taken out, it would be more pleasing to me than to possess a worldly station that would separate me from Allah and the Hereafter. Because a worldly station cannot be a means of salvation for those who have taqwa (God-consciousness) nor for the happiness of the believers."
ʿAbd al-Bāqī passed away at the age of ninety-three in the month of Dhu al-Qaʿdah of that year. May Allah have mercy on him. Amen.
Abū al-Qāsim b. Imām al-Haramayn
One of the Batiniyya killed him in the city of Nishapur. May Allah have mercy on him and his father as well, amen.