He rebuilt the walls of Aleppo in the most thorough fashion. It is said that he once toyed with the poet al-Hilli, pestering him until the latter asked—hinting at satire—“Shall I compose?” Al-Zahir replied, “Shall I scatter?” and laid his hand on the sword.

Sibṭ al-Jawzī (1) said: “He was awe-inspiring, politically adroit, and sharp-witted. His realm teemed with scholars and was embellished by kings and princes. He was benevolent toward the populace, took part in most of his father’s expeditions, visited the pious and looked after them, and possessed extraordinary intelligence. He died of dysentery.”

Abū Shāma (2) said: “On his death-bed he bequeathed the kingdom to his child by al-ʿĀdil’s daughter, enjoining her brothers to protect her; after her, to Ahmad; then to al-Manṣūr Muḥammad, son of his nephew al-Malik al-ʿAzīz. He entrusted the Citadel to Tughril the Rūmī retainer. He passed away in 613 AH at the age of forty-five.”

I add: He would regain consciousness, recite the testimony of faith, and say, “O Allah, in You I seek refuge.”

His poet, Rājiḥ (3) al-Hilli, elegized him, saying (4):

Ask the calamity—should it lend an ear to one who addresses it—
about the prey now clenched by its fangs and claws.

I adjure you, reproach it for the trials it has wrought,
even though it cares nothing for the one who reproaches it (5).

To Allah I cast my bewildered gaze,
 toward a horizon of glory whose stars have fallen (6).