"when you see him, you will fear him." He said: "O Messenger of Allāh! By the One who sent you with the truth, I have never feared anything." He said: So ʿAbdullāh ibn Anīs set out until he reached the mountains of (ʿArafah) before the sun set. ʿAbdullāh said: "I met a man, and I was terrified of him when I saw him. I knew when I was terrified of him that it was as the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) had said. He said to me: 'Who is the man?' I said: 'A seeker of a need. Is there a place to stay?'" He said: "Yes, follow me." So I followed him, prayed two light rakʿahs of ʿAṣr, and was afraid he might see me. Then I caught up with him, struck him with the sword, and then left. I came to the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) and informed him. Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb said: "The Messenger of Allāh (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) gave him a staff and said: (and he mentioned it)." Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb said: "When ʿAbdullāh ibn Anīs passed away, he ordered that it be placed on his abdomen, and he was shrouded and buried with it." I said: "This is a good isnād, mentioned by Abū Nuʿaym in the biography of (Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan) from 'al-Akhbār,' and he said: 'He is known as (Ibn Mutawiyyah)... He was among the devout and virtuous, fasting continuously.'" Al-Dhahabī also mentioned him in "Tadhkirat al-Ḥuffāẓ" (2/740) and described him as: "the exemplary ḥāfiẓ... Abū al-Shaykh said: 'He was among the sources of truth.'" He also has a biography in "al-Siyar" (14/142-143). The judge Abū Aḥmad Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm is the ḥāfiẓ al-ʿAssāl, mentioned by Abū Nuʿaym in "al-Akhbār" saying (2/283):