When Hūlāgū seized Baghdad, he escaped and joined the Arabs of Iraq. Once he heard that al-Malik al-Ẓāhir (1) had assumed the sultanate, he travelled to him in Rajab 659 AH, accompanied by ten men from the family of Mahārash. The sultan rode out to meet him, with the judges and leading officials in his train, and they proceeded down the main thoroughfare of Cairo. His lineage was then verified before the judges, whereupon he received the oath of allegiance. On Friday he left the Citadel clad in black, made his way to the Citadel Mosque, ascended the pulpit, delivered a sermon in which he extolled the honor of the House of al-ʿAbbās, supplicated for the sultan and the subjects, and led the congregation in prayer.

Judge Jamāl al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Sumar al-Mālikī relates: “Our shaykh Ibn ʿAbd al-Salām told me, ‘When we began to take the bayʿah (oath of allegiance) for al-Mustanṣir, I said to al-Malik al-Ẓāhir, “Give him your pledge.” He replied, “I am not adept at that; you pledge first, and I shall follow.”

‘After we had concluded the ceremony, we presented ourselves the next day before the sultan. He praised the caliph and said, “One of the blessings he has brought is that I entered the palace yesterday and went to a mosque in it to pray. I noticed a jutting platform and told the servants, ‘Tear this down.’ When they demolished it a subterranean vault appeared beneath; they descended and found many chests filled with gold and silver—treasures of al-Malik al-Kāmil, may Allah have mercy upon him.”’”

I say: This man is the thirty-eighth Abbasid caliph. He was given the oath at the Mountain Citadel on the thirteenth of Rajab, 659 AH (2). He was dark-complexioned, courageous, imposing, large of frame, and of lofty aspiration.

The sultan appointed for him an atābak, a master of the household, a cup-bearer, a treasurer, a chamberlain, and a secretary. He assigned him a treasury, a number of mamlūks, one hundred horses, ten camel caravans, ten mule caravans, and the like.

Abū Shāmah (3) said: “At the ʿĀdiliyya the sultan’s letter to the chief judge was read aloud…”