reputed for leniency in religious matters (1). He also composed vigorous and elegant verse, a fine sample of which Qadi Ibn Khallikan has transmitted. He died (2) after passing the age of eighty.

Among the other notable figures who died this year was Abu’l-Qasim Shāhinshāh al-Afḍal, son of Amīr (3) al-Juyūsh Badr al-Jamālī (4), the man who directed the affairs of the Fatimid state in Egypt. To his father (5) is ascribed the qaysariyya (commercial arcade) of Amīr al-Juyūsh, which the common people (6) corrupt to “Marjūsh” (7). His father also built the mosque that stands at the Alexandrian harbor in the Spice-Dealers’ Market, as well as the Shrine of the Head in Asqalan. The elder Badr had served al-Mustanṣir as deputy over the city of Tyre—some say Acre—until the caliph summoned him during the winter. He set sail, came before the caliph, and was appointed vice-regent over Egypt, where he put affairs in order after a period of turmoil. He died in 488 AH, and this son of his, al-Afḍal, succeeded him as vizier, equaling his father in courage and sternness.

When al-Mustanṣir died, he installed al-Mustaʿlī on the throne, and the state remained under his hand. He was said to be just, of commendable conduct, and praised for the excellence of his inner character—Allah knows best. A fidāʾī struck him while he was riding and killed him in Ramadan of this year, at the age of fifty-seven. His tenure of power after his father thus lasted twenty-eight years (8).

His residence is today the Dār al-Wakālah in Egypt. It was found (9) that he had amassed immense wealth (10), far beyond any reckoning (11): incalculable hoards of gold and silver, pedigreed horses, livestock, estates, and priceless jewels. All of this passed into the personal treasuries and storehouses of the Fatimid caliph (12). In his place the caliph appointed Abū ʿAbd Allah al-Baṭāʾiḥī, bestowing upon him the honorific al-Maʾmūn.