be easy for you to find their like in your dominion. As for me,(1) I have released them from any right I might claim against them, and I calmed the Sultan’s anger toward them.

He went on to say: Judge Zayn al-Din Ibn Makhluf—the Mālikī chief judge—later declared, “We have never seen anyone nobler(2) than Ibn Taymiyyah. We left no avenue unexplored in trying to harm him, yet when he gained the power to retaliate he forgave us.”

After meeting with the Sultan, the Shaykh—may Allah have mercy on him—went down to Cairo and settled near the sanctuary of al-Ḥusayn. He resumed teaching and disseminating knowledge,(3) with crowds studying under him, reading to him, and requesting legal opinions, which he supplied both orally and in writing. Amirs, dignitaries, and ordinary people all frequented him; among them were those who apologized and disavowed their previous actions. He said, “I have pardoned everyone for all that has transpired.”

The Shaykh’s Letter to His Companions and Relatives in Damascus

The Shaykh then sent a letter to his relatives and friends in Damascus, in which he described the tremendous blessing(4) and abundant good he was enjoying, and asked that a number of scholarly books be forwarded to him. In that letter he wrote:

“You know that—praise be to Allah—we are enjoying immense favors, weighty blessings, abundant bounties, and manifold acts of kindness….”