Muḥammad b. Jaʿfar b. Muḥammad b. Fudāla b. Yazīd b. ʿAbdil-Abū Bakr al-ʿAdmī. He was a writer of lyric poetry. He had a beautiful voice. He recited the Qurʾān al-Karīm beautifully. When he recited the Qurʾān, his voice could be heard from very far away at night.
On one occasion, he went on pilgrimage together with Abū'l-Qāsim al-Bāghawī. While in Medina, they entered the Masjid al-Nabawi. There they saw an old and blind man telling the congregation false and fabricated news. Al-Bāghawī said: "One must reject the words of this man." One of his companions said to him: "You are not in Baghdad now, so if you reject this man's words, people will not accept your words nor recognize you. Here very few know you. However, the congregation listening to this man is large, but according to your opinion, tell Abū Bakr al-ʿAdmī to recite the Qurʾān. That would be better."
Abū'l-Qāsim told Abū Bakr al-ʿAdmī to recite the Qurʾān, and he began to recite. Before he completed the Eʿūdhu Bi-llāh (I seek refuge in God) and Bismillāh (In the name of God), people dispersed from around the old and blind man and came to Abū Bakr to listen to him; no one remained with the old man. The old man took hold of his guide's hand and said: "Take me away from here. Blessings vanish in this way."
Abū Bakr al-ʿAdmī died on a Wednesday, two nights before the end of the month of Rabīʿ al-Awwal that year. He was eighty-eight years old at the time of his death.
After his death, a man saw him in a dream and asked him: "How did Allah treat you?" He gave the following answer.
- He made me stand before Him; I faced very difficult circumstances.
- Although you recited the Qurʾān with a beautiful voice in the world, did you face difficulties there?
- Nothing harmed me as much as reciting the Qurʾān with a beautiful voice. Because I recited it for worldly gain.
- So what was your ultimate fate?
- The Exalted Allah addressed me and said: "I have sworn by Myself not to punish those who have reached eighty years of age."