ʿAbd al-Ṣamad b. ʿAlī b. ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAbbās. He was the uncle of al-Saffāḥ and al-Manṣūr. He was born in the year 104 of the Hijra. He was indeed a large-built person. His teeth had not fallen out; the roots of his teeth were all in one piece.
One day, he said to Hārūn al-Rashīd: "O Commander of the Faithful! Here in this gathering are the caliph's uncle, the uncle's uncle, and the uncle's uncle's uncle, all together." That is, Hārūn al-Rashīd's uncle Sulaymān b. Abī Jaʿfar, Sulaymān's uncle ʿAbbās b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī, and al-Saffāḥ's uncle ʿAbd al-Ṣamad b. ʿAlī were all present in this assembly. It should be noted that ʿAbd al-Ṣamad was the uncle's uncle's uncle of Hārūn al-Rashīd, because he was the uncle of his grandfather. ʿAbd al-Ṣamad narrated from ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAbbās that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said as follows:
"Doing good to others and maintaining ties of kinship increases one's lifespan, brings prosperity to one's land, and increases one's wealth. Even if those who do this are a sinful people, these things will still occur."
Again, according to the narration of ʿAbd al-Ṣamad b. ʿAlī, the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him)
said:
"Doing good and maintaining ties of kinship lighten the reckoning on the Day of Resurrection." After saying this, he recited the following verse (āya):
"And they join that which Allah has ordered to be joined and fear their Lord and are afraid of the evil of [their] account." (al-Raʿd 13:21)
ʿAbd al-Ṣamad b. ʿAlī narrated other hadith as well.
In this year, Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm b. ʿAlī b. ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAbbās, known as the "imam," also passed away. This person used to serve as the leader of the pilgrimage (ḥajj amīr). During the time of al-Manṣūr, he also performed the duty of judge (complaints officer) for several years. He died in the month of Shawwāl of this year in Baghdad. al-Amīn led his funeral prayer and he was buried in the Abbasid cemetery.
Among the notable figures who died in this year were the hadith shaykhs Tamnām b. Ismāʿīl, ʿAmr b. ʿUbayd, Muṭṭalib b. Ziyād, Muʿāfa b. ʿImrān, Yūsuf b. Māʿqilūn, and after al-Awzāʿī, Abū Isḥāq al-Fazārī, who was the imam of the people of Syria in matters of maghāzī (accounts of the Prophet's expeditions), knowledge, and worship.