Born in Damascus, sometime after 580 AH ⦗1⦘.
He received ḥadīth from Mansur al-Tabari and al-Shihab al-Ghaznawi, and later transmitted traditions himself. Highly esteemed, he was intelligent, brave, imposing, and generous—altogether suited to high command. In 640 AH the Sultan Najm al-Din became angry with him, imprisoned him for three years, and he endured great hardship; afterward the Sultan relented, showered him with favor, and appointed him viceroy of the realm. He did, however, partake of intoxicants.
When the Sultan died, the notables pressed Fakhr al-Din to assume the sultanate, but he refused; had he accepted, the throne would have been his. It is related that when he entered Damascus with the Sultan he lodged in the House of Sāma. Shaykh al-ʿImad Ibn al-Nahḥās came to him and said, “O Fakhr al-Din, how much longer can matters remain as they are?” He replied, “O ʿImad al-Din, by Allah, I shall reach Paradise before you.” God confirmed his words—if Allah wills—for he was martyred on the day of the Battle of al-Mansurah.
After al-Ṣāliḥ’s death he shouldered the burden of rule, performed admirably, spent two hundred thousand dinars on the troops, abolished certain levies, and rode out with the Shāwishiyya guard. He dispatched the horseman Aqṭāyā ⦗2⦘ to Hisn Kayfa to bring back al-Ṣāliḥ’s illustrious son, Turan Shah, and had him escorted thither. Turan Shah even considered seizing him when he saw how firmly established he was, but at that very moment the Franks advanced against the army; the troops fell back and fled, so Fakhr