The death of Imam al-Nasaʾi, author of "al-Sunan"
Imam Abu ʿAbd al-Rahman Ahmad ibn Shuʿayb al-Nasaʾi, author of "al-Sunan al-Sughra" — one of the Six Books — died. He was among the most exacting of hadith scholars in the criticism of narrators, so that it was said: he is a more precise memorizer than Muslim.
al-Nasaʾi was born in Nasa in Khurasan in 215 AH and travelled in pursuit of hadith to the Hijaz, Iraq, Syria and Egypt, where he settled. He compiled "al-Sunan al-Kubra," then selected from it "al-Mujtaba" (al-Sunan al-Sughra), which the scholars ranked among the most rigorous of the Sunnah books in its conditions after the two Sahihs.
Alongside his mastery of hadith he was a pious, scrupulous jurist. al-Daraqutni said of him: "Abu ʿAbd al-Rahman is placed ahead of everyone mentioned in this science among the people of his age."
Late in life he left Egypt for Damascus, where he was asked about the virtues of Muʿawiya and declined; he was harmed until he was driven out, and died in Palestine — some say in Makkah — in Safar 303 AH, may Allah have mercy on him.
Note — differing reports on the date: There is difference over the place of his death, between al-Ramla in Palestine and Makkah, and over its day; the well-known view is 13 Safar 303 AH.