The congregational mosque had fallen into disrepair, so he entrusted its supervision to Qadi Kamal al-Din Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Shahrazuri al-Mawsili (1), who had come in his retinue; he then appointed him Chief Judge of Damascus. The qadi set its affairs in order, reopened the four shrines, and recovered the mosque’s revenues that had been stored there ever since they were burnt in 461 AH. He also annexed to the mosque’s known endowments those waqfs whose donors and stipulations were no longer known (2), merged them into a single register, and named it (3) “the Fund of Public Interests.” From it he assigned stipends to people of need—the poor, the destitute, widows, orphans, and others in similar circumstances.

King Nur al-Din—may Allah have mercy on him—possessed elegant handwriting, read widely in religious works, followed the Prophetic traditions, and was diligent in performing the prayers in congregation (4). He recited the Quran often, loved good deeds, kept both stomach and private parts pure, and was frugal in what he spent on himself, his family, and his household for food and clothing. It was even said that the humblest pauper of his time spent more on himself than Nur al-Din did; yet he never hoarded wealth or preferred this world. No obscene word was ever heard from him—whether in anger or in contentment; he was reserved and dignified.

Ibn al-Athir (5) said: “Among the Muslim rulers (6) after ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz, none was like King Nur al-Din, nor was anyone more meticulous in pursuing justice and fairness than he.”

He had sought a legal opinion from the scholars on the amount it was lawful for him to take from the public treasury, and he would accept only that amount, adding nothing to it—even if he were to die of hunger.

He also owned a few shops in Homs (7) that he had purchased with his personal share of the spoils of war, and he lived on their income. When his wife found the allowance he gave her insufficient, he added the rents of those shops to her maintenance.

He often played polo, and when some righteous man (8) reproached him for it, he replied, “Actions are judged only by intentions; my aim in this is merely to exercise the horses and train them (9) to charge and retreat, for we do not abandon jihad.”

He never wore silk, and he ate only from what his own hand earned by his sword and his spear—may Allah have mercy on him.