[The Emir Abū al-Hayjāʾ al-Samīn al-Kurdī]
(1) In this year the eminent emir Abū al-Hayjāʾ al-Samīn al-Kurdī passed away. He ranked among the foremost commanders of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn (2). While Acre was under siege he served as its deputy governor, leaving the city before the Franks captured it; he returned to it after al-Mashṭūb’s departure, only for it to fall once more. Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn then appointed him over Jerusalem (3), but when al-ʿAzīz took the city he dismissed him. Abū al-Hayjāʾ thereupon sought permission to go to Baghdad, where he was shown exceptional honour, and the caliph dispatched him at the head of the troops to Hamadhān, where he died.
[The Qāḍī of Baghdad, Abū Ṭālib ʿAlī ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Bukhārī]
(4) In this same year the Baghdad judge Abū Ṭālib ʿAlī ibn ʿAlī ibn Hibat-Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Bukhārī died. He studied hadith with Abū al-Waqt (5) and others, and he learned jurisprudence under Abū al-Qāsim ibn Faḍlān (6). He first served as deputy judge in Baghdad, then assumed the office itself, and at one time the duties of acting vizier were added to his charge. Later he was removed from the judiciary, then reinstated, and he died while still in office—may Allah grant us well-being. An accomplished scholar from a family renowned for learning and integrity, he also composed poetry (7):
from the wāfir metre:
Avoid the ugly, never pursue it;
And to the one you favor, add yet more.
Enough for you against an enemy’s every scheme
Is that when he plots, you plot no war.
[The Sayyid, Sharif, and Naqīb of the Prophet’s Descendants in Baghdad, Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī]
(8) In this year the noble sayyid and naqīb of the Prophet’s family in Baghdad, Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī (9) ibn Ḥamza ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī, (10) ibn Yaḥyā ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Zayd ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib—the ʿAlid Ḥusaynī known as Ibn al-Aqsāsī—passed away. Born and raised in Kūfa, he was a consummate poet (11) who praised caliphs and viziers alike. He came from a household famed for scholarship, leadership, and chivalry, and he arrived in Baghdad,