to the Muslims.

He would spend long hours in night-vigil prayer, and he was thoroughly versed in the school of Abū Ḥanīfah. Nowhere in his vast realm did he leave in place a single arbitrary tax. I have heard that the monthly income of his charitable endowments devoted to acts of piety reached nine thousand Tyrian dinars.

Al-Qutb al-Naysābūrī (1) once said to him, “For Allah’s sake, do not risk your life; if you are struck down in battle, no Muslim will escape the sword.” He replied, “And who is Maḥmūd that anyone should say such a thing? Allah protected the land before me—there is no god but He.” (2)

I say: he was devout and God-fearing; he would part with money only for something beneficial, and poets found no marketplace with him. Concerning him Usāmah (3) composed:

Our sovereign (4) is austere, and the people have grown austere as well;
for him every seeker of good (5) hastens to strive.
His days are like the month of fasting—spotless,
free of sin, yet marked by hunger and thirst.

Majd al-Dīn Ibn al-Athīr, citing Sibt al-Jawzī (6), said: “Nūr al-Dīn never wore silk or gold, and he forbade the sale of wine in his lands—(I add: he did don the robe of honor from the Caliph and a golden collar). He fasted frequently, maintained regular litanies day and night, and he often played ball.” A pauper reproached him for that, so he wrote back: “By Allah, I do not intend play; we are on the frontier, and when the alarm sounds, the horses must already be trained to wheel about, charge, and retreat.”

A gilded turban was sent to him from Egypt, so he gave it.