abundant births of twins among women, (1) a compensation for the plague and mass die-off that had struck them the previous year; and that Greater Syria is, by Allah’s permission, enjoying plentiful harvests, (2) redressing the drought and high prices that had afflicted them—and to Allah belong all praise and favor. (3)
In Shawwāl, al-Malik al-Nāṣir Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn set out for Alexandria, where he inspected (4) the work he had ordered on strengthening its walls, and on building its towers and palaces. There he listened (5) to the Muwaṭṭaʾ of Imām Mālik from Shaykh Abū Ṭāhir ibn ʿAwf, on the authority of al-Ṭurṭūshī; the secretary al-ʿImād listened along with him. Al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil then sent (6) a letter to the Sultan congratulating him on this hearing. Allah, exalted is He, knows best.
Account of the death of al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Ismāʿīl ibn al-Malik Nūr al-Dīn al-Shahīd, (7) lord of Aleppo, and the events that followed
He died on the twenty-fifth of Rajab of this year in the Citadel of Aleppo and was buried there. It is said that the cause of his death was that the amir ʿAlam al-Dīn Sulaymān ibn Ḥaydar (8) gave him poison in a cluster of grapes while they were hunting; others said that Yāqūt al-Asadī poisoned him in a drink; still others said it was in a preparation of khushkananjah. He was then seized by colic and remained in that state until he died—may Allah have mercy on him.
He was a handsome, fine-looking youth, not yet twenty years old. Among kings he was exceptionally chaste; and, as the saying goes, “Whoever resembles his father is not wronged.” (9) When he fell ill the physicians prescribed wine, so he sought a legal opinion from some jurists about drinking it as medicine, and they issued him a fatwa (10) permitting it. He asked, “Will drinking it lengthen my life or shorten it in any way?” They replied, (11) “No.” He said, “By Allah, I will not drink it and then meet Allah having consumed what He has forbidden me.” (13)
When he despaired of recovery he summoned the emirs and made them swear allegiance to his cousin