and a great multitude benefited from him until he began to speak about the ittihādiyya—the proponents of waḥdat al-wujūd (the unity of existence)—among them Ibn ʿArabī, Ibn Sabʿīn, al-Qūnawī, and others ⦗1⦘. The Sufis then rallied against him and, in large crowds, went up to the Citadel to complain to the Sultan about Ibn Taymiyyah, alleging that he insulted their shaykhs and belittled their standing among the people.

The Sultan ordered that a hearing be convened for him in the Dār al-ʿAdl (Hall of Justice). On Tuesday, the tenth of Shawwāl, 707 AH, the session was held, and there he—may Allah have mercy on him—displayed such learning, courage, firmness of heart, and genuine reliance on Allah that words fail to describe it. Yet the uproar intensified and the debates multiplied, so the authorities saw no way to silence them except by offering the Shaykh three alternatives:

1. to travel to Damascus;
2. or to go to Alexandria—subject, in both Damascus and Alexandria, to certain restrictions;
3. or imprisonment.

He—may Allah have mercy on him—chose imprisonment ⦗2⦘. However, his students and admirers pleaded with him to travel to Damascus under the stipulated conditions, and, to reassure them, he agreed. He mounted the postal relay on the eighteenth of Shawwāl that same year, but the next day another courier was dispatched after him and returned him to Egypt. He then appeared before Qāḍī Badr al-Dīn Ibn Jamāʿah together with a number of jurists.

Some of them said to him, “The state will be satisfied with nothing but imprisonment.” Qāḍī Ibn Jamāʿah replied, “That will serve his best interests.” Consequently, he deputized Shams al-Dīn al-Tūnisī al-Mālikī and authorized him to pass judgment against him.