ʿImād remarked: The calamity reached its completion when al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil passed from the perishing abode to the abode of permanence. He died in his house in Cairo on the sixth of Rabīʿ al-Ākhir. That very night he had performed the ʿIshāʾ prayer, sat with the professor of his madrasa, spoke with him at length, and then returned to his residence in perfect health.

He said to his servant, “Prepare what I need for the bath and let me know, so that I may snatch a little sleep.” The servant came to him before dawn, but he took no notice of the man’s voice. His son hurried in and found him silent and motionless. He remained the whole day, and nothing was heard from him but a faint moan; then he passed away—may Allah have mercy upon him.

It is reported that an astrologer once examined the Qāḍī’s horoscope and declared, “This is a felicity too vast for Ascalon to contain.”

He had memorised the Qur’an, written out a full copy and endowed it as a waqf, and he read al-Jamʿ bayna al-Ṣaḥīḥayn (the compilation that reconciles the two Ṣaḥīḥs) with Ibn Farḥ, who received it from a man going back to al-Ḥumaydī. He kept company with Abū al-Fatḥ Maḥmūd ibn Qādūs, the chancery scribe. His father died in the year 46 (1). A calamity had befallen his father that ended in his death—he was beaten and his property seized until nothing remained—so the son went on to Alexandria, joined the Banū Ḥadīd, and they employed him.

Jamāl al-Dīn Ibn Nubāta said: I found among the Qāḍī’s marginal notes the following: “When I sailed from Ascalon to Alexandria I had with me one bundle containing clothes and another containing rough drafts. The passengers were forced to lighten the ship, so I meant to throw away the bundle of drafts; I made a mistake and threw overboard the bundle of clothes.”

Qāḍī Ibn Shaddād relates that the Qāḍī’s daily income amounted to fifty (2) dinars (3).