ABSTRACT
When al-Ma'miin entered Baghdad in 204 A.H., he asked Ya1)ya b.Aktham, a young Ba~rian qii¢fwith many friends who excelled in knowledge and munl'a (chivalry and honor), to send some of these people to him. 'Choose from among your friends a group that will keep me company and visit me often, and [Ya1)ya b. Aktham] chose twenty among which was Ibn AbI Du'ad... '3
