and—by the majesty of our master and the master of all others (1)—the blazing sun of the days’ hardships was brought low.
Good fortune itself came knocking at his door, unlike those who must hasten to knock at hers.
So let the world boast of the steward of its kingdom, of the one who studies its sciences and pens its books: its man of fasting, its night-standing worshipper, its all-knowing scholar, its tireless worker, its lavish spender, its generous giver.

We have been informed that the books in his possession reached one hundred thousand volumes, which he had procured from every region (2).

Judge Ḍiyāʾ al-Din Ibn al-Shahrazūrī reported that when al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil learned that al-ʿĀdil had taken Egypt, he prayed for death, fearing that al-ʿĀdil’s vizier, Ibn Shukr, would summon him or disgrace him; he was found dead the next morning. He was a man devoted to night vigil and acts of worship.

Al-ʿImād, in al-Kharīda (3), says: “Before I begin with the notables of Egypt, I place first the mention (4) of the one before whom all the eminent men of the age (5) are but a single drop in his ocean (6), the master, al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil …,” until he says:

“He is like the Muhammadan law, which abrogated the previous codes; he devises ideas and inaugurates fresh creations (7). He secures the realm with his judgements and strings the necklace with his favors. Should he so wish, he could in a single day (8) compose something that—were it written down—would provide the craftsmen of the pen their finest exemplar…"