He likewise appointed for it a preacher and an instructor of fiqh (jurisprudence), entrusting the chair of teaching to the jurist Abu Bakr al-Nuqani (1), a student of Muhammad ibn Yahya, himself a disciple of al-Ghazali. He issued an official decree to that effect and endowed the mosque with a village from among the villages of Mosul. All of this was done on the advice of the righteous and devout shaykh ʿUmar al-Mallā, who maintained a lodge that people frequented. Each year, in the month of the Mawlid, he would host a banquet attended by kings, scholars (2), emirs, and viziers, and the occasion was celebrated with great ceremony. King Nur al-Din was his companion; he would consult him in his affairs and in every important matter on which he relied (3). It was also he who, during Nur al-Din’s stay in Mosul (4), advised him concerning all the charitable works he accomplished. For this reason, Nur al-Din’s arrival brought the people of Mosul nothing but joy; calamities were averted from them, and [he abolished the tolls and taxes that had burdened them] (5).
He also removed from among them (6) the tyrannical oppressor [Fakhr al-Din] (7) ʿAbd al-Masih, changed his name to ʿAbd Allah, and took him to Damascus, granting him a handsome fief—may Allah reward him well. ʿAbd al-Masih had previously been a Christian, but he professed Islam. It was said that he kept a church inside his house. He was of evil conduct and malicious intent, especially toward the scholars and the Muslims in particular (8). When Nur al-Din entered Mosul, the one who guaranteed him safe conduct (9) was Shaykh ʿUmar al-Mallā (10).
When Nur al-Din entered (11) Mosul, his nephew came out to meet him, stood before him, and he treated him graciously and honoured him (12), clothing him with a robe of honour that had come from the caliph. Wearing it, he entered (13) the city in magnificent splendour. Nur al-Din did not arrive in Mosul until the winter had become severe, so he remained there, as we have mentioned, for twenty-four days. When it was (14) the last night of his stay—