He succeeded his brother Ghazi (1). His public conduct was generally sound, and it was he who humbled their vizier al-Jawad. Over his dominions Zayn al-Din ʿAli, lord of Irbil, served as his deputy.
His reign lasted twenty-two years (2).
He died in Shawwal of the year 565 AH.
He left several sons, among them the sultan ʿIzz al-Din Masʿud and the sultan Sayf al-Din Ghazi, who inherited the throne after his father. He was also the brother of the ruler of Syria, Nur al-Din.
336 – Ibn Zafar, Muhammad ibn Abi Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Siqilli*
The distinguished scholar and proof of the faith, Abu ʿAbd Allah (3) Muhammad ibn Abi Muhammad (4) ibn Muhammad ibn Zafar al-Siqilli, author of the book Khayr al-Bashar (The Best of Humankind) and of the book
= 1/186–187; Wafayat al-Ayan 5/302–303; Mufarrij al-Kurub 1/177, 188–190; al-Mukhtasar 3/49; Duwal al-Islam 2/78; al-Ibar 4/191; Tatimmat al-Mukhtasar 2/120; al-Bidaya wa-l-Nihaya 12/261; al-Nujum al-Zahira 5/383; Shadharāt al-Dhahab 4/216.
(1) See the earlier biographical entry no. 41.
(2) The autograph reads: “wa-kana” (and he was).
(*) Further sources: al-Khurida (Levant section) 3/49; Muʿjam al-Udabaʾ 19/48–49; Wafayat al-Ayan 4/395–397; al-Wafi bi-l-Wafayat 1/141–142; al-ʿIqd al-Thamin 2/344–348; Bughyat al-Wuʿat 1/142–143; Kashf al-Zunun, p. 741 and elsewhere; Hadiyyat al-ʿArifin 2/96; Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur, vol. 5, pp. 147 and 152 (within the entry on al-Hariri).
The name Zafar is vocalised with an open zha and fa, followed by a ra, according to Ibn Khallikan.
Al-Safadi notes that some write Ibn Zafar with both the zha and fa pronounced with ḍamma, but the former pronunciation is better known.
(3) In al-ʿIqd al-Thamin, quoting al-Qatiʿi’s Dhayl Tarikh Baghdad, the kunya is given as Abu Hashim; Hadiyyat al-ʿArifin has Abu Jaʿfar.
(4) Al-Wafi records him as Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Zafar, whereas Bughyat al-Wuʿat and Hadiyyat al-ʿArifin read: Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Zafar.