to the pursuit of knowledge; he refined his work, perfected it, and outshone his contemporaries. He then undertook the office of ḥisbah in Baghdad, after which he became (1) the caliphs’ envoy to the kings on the frontiers—especially to the Ayyubids in Syria. From them he secured such wealth and honors that he built (2) the Jawziyyah Madrasa in the Nashshābīn quarter of Damascus and endowed it generously. More substantial sums reached him from other rulers as well. In 640 AH he was appointed ostādar (majordomo) to the Caliph al-Mustaʿṣim and continued in that role until he was slain together with the caliph in the year when [Hūlāgū Khān b.] (3) Tūlī b. Chinggis Khān took power.

Abū al-Faraj (4) had several daughters, among them Rābiʿah, the mother of his grandson Abū al-Muẓaffar ibn Quzāʾughli, author of Mirʾāt al-Zamān, one of the most comprehensive and beneficial chronicles. Ibn Khallikān mentions him in al-Wafayāt (5), praising him and commending his writings and learning.

al-ʿImād the secretary al-Iṣfahānī (6):
Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥāmid ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAlī ibn Maḥmūd ibn Hibat Allāh ibn Ulluh— with a doubled, ḍamma-voweled lām—known as al-ʿImād the secretary al-Iṣfahānī.

A prolific writer of treatises and poetry (7), he was the contemporary of al-Qāḍī al-Fāḍil; whoever achieved distinction (8) in the age of al-Fāḍil must indeed be distinguished.

He was born in Isfahan in 519 AH, came to Baghdad, and studied there with Shaykh Abū Manṣūr Saʿīd ibn al-Razzāz (9), professor of the Niẓāmiyyah. He heard ḥadīth, then journeyed to Syria, where he gained the favor of King Nūr al-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn Zankī, served as his scribe, and was placed in charge of the school the king had founded within Bāb al-Faraj, known as the ʿImādiyyah (10) after al-ʿImād.