He was born in the royal palace of Cairo in 576 AH. He grew up in Damascus, memorised the Qur’an, excelled in the Hanafi school, and devoted particular attention to al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr, for which—with the assistance of others—he produced an extensive commentary. He attached himself to al-Tāj al-Kindī, visiting him repeatedly in the Darb al-ʿAjam quarter near the Citadel with the book tucked under his arm. Under al-Kindī he studied the Kitāb of Sibawayh, al-Ḥujjah fī al-Qirāʾāt, and al-Ḥamāsah, memorised al-Idāḥ, and heard the Musnad of Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. He also had a collection of poetry which, so al-Qūṣī claimed, he himself recited to him.

He authored a treatise on prosody, though at times his own verse failed to observe proper metre. Fiercely loyal to his school, he promised one hundred Tyrian dinars to anyone who would present the Mufaṣṣal and two hundred to whoever would present al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr (1).

He performed the pilgrimage in 611 AH, dug reservoirs, and in Maʿān built a guest-house and a bath. Given to study and debate, he combined shrewdness with resolve and was described as courageous, generous, and humble. Once he rode to Alexandria in only eight days on a single horse; he provided for petitioners and chroniclers, yet—with the Franks pressing on his borders—he committed injustices, farming out the wine monopoly to finance his troops. More than once he would ride out alone, his mamluks later galloping after him. He used to pray the Friday congregational prayer in the mausoleum of his uncle Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn, then walk on to visit his father’s grave.

I have read, in the handwriting of al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Ḍiyāʾ, the words: “Al-Muʿaẓẓam was brave and a jurist; he drank intoxicants, established many injustices, and ruined Jerusalem.” Ibn al-Athīr (2) said: “He was learned in several disciplines, and in his days the market of knowledge flourished.”