I heard Ustadh Abu al-Walid (may Allah have mercy on him) saying: I was present in the gathering of Abu al-Abbas bin Surayj when an elderly man stood up to praise him. I heard him saying: Abu al-Tahir al-Khawlani narrated to us that Ibn Wahb informed (us), from Sa'id bin Abi Ayyub, from Shurahbil bin Yazid, from Abu Alqamah, from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, Allah Almighty will send, at the head of every hundred years, a person who will renew its religion for this Ummah." Then the elderly man said: O Qadi, rejoice at the glad tidings, for Allah Almighty sent Umar bin Abd al-Aziz at the end of the first century, and Muhammad bin Idris al-Shafi'i at the end of the second century, and at the end of the third century there is you (Abu al-Abbas bin Surayj). Then he recited these verses: "Two have passed away in whom blessing was placed: one the Caliph Umar (bin Abd al-Aziz), and the other the embodiment of nobility, the most brilliant and sagacious Muhammad bin Idris al-Shafi'i, the bearer of the inheritance of prophethood and the cousin of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). O Abu al-Abbas, rejoice, for you are the third after them; may Allah water the soil of the grave of Ahmad (that is, you)." The narrator says: Hearing this, Qadi Abu al-Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him) began to weep bitterly and said: This elderly man has announced to me my own death. Some of my companions told me that they were present in the gathering of Shaykh Imam Abu al-Tayyib Sahl bin Muhammad bin Sulayman, where this story was mentioned; in my absence they related this incident before him. The jurist Abu Amr al-Bistami was also present in that gathering, and he extemporised these verses: "And the fourth, the renowned (renewer), is Sahl bin Muhammad, who has become an Imam in the eyes of every believer in Tawhid. All the Muslims turn to him for knowledge when they are troubled by some grave matter. May he always remain among us the Shaykh of creation and the best renewer of the chosen school." Then I asked the jurist Abu Amr about these verses in my own gathering, and he recited them to me.