al-Maqdisī (1) made his way to Egypt, and an inquisitorial council was convened in his presence. (Among those who rose against him were Ibn al-Zakī (2) and the preacher al-Dawlaʿī (3). The four of them, together with others who opposed him, have all died and are now gathered before their Lord, the All-Just Judge, exalted be He.)
The emir Fakhr al-Dīn Shirkas (4)—also called Jahārkas (5), one of the emirs of the Ṣalāḥī dynasty, after whom Bāb Shirkas (6) at the foot of the Citadel is named—lies buried opposite the mausoleum (7) of Khātūn (8), where his grave is located.
Ibn Khallikān (9) said: “He is the one who built the Great Qaysāriyya in Cairo that bears his name, and on its upper level he constructed a suspended mosque and a residential quarter. A number of merchants have stated that, for beauty, size, and sound construction, they have seen nothing comparable to it in any land.” He added: “Jahārkas means ‘four persons.’”
I remark: He served as al-ʿĀdil’s deputy over Bāniyās, al-Shaqīf (10), Tibnīn (11), and Hūnīn (12). When he died he left a young son, and al-ʿĀdil confirmed the boy in the posts his father had held, appointing as his guardian the emir Ṣārim al-Dīn Khuṭluba.
(1) His biography has already appeared in Wafāyāt, p. 600 of the preceding volume.
(2) His biography of the qāḍī Ibn al-Zakī appeared in Wafāyāt al-Minnah, p. 598 of the preceding volume.
(3) His biography of al-Dawla‘ī appeared in Wafāyāt, p. 598 of the preceding volume.
(4) The biography of Sharkas appears in Mirʾāt az-Zamān (vol. 8, p. 558); At-Takmīlah li-Wafāyāt an-Naqālah (vol. 2, pp. 237–238); Wafāyāt al-Aʿyān (vol. 1, p. 381); Dhayl ar-Rawdatayn (p. 79); Al-Mukhtaṣar li-Abī al-Fidāʾ (vol. 3, p. 113); Tārīkh al-Islām (vol. 13, p. 189); Al-Jar (vol. 5, p. 27); Tārīkh al-Ṣāliḥiyyah (p. 135); and Shadhārāt adh-Dhahab (vol. 7, p. 60).
(5) Ibn Khallikān explains that the name “Jaharkas”—written with a kasra under the jīm, a fatḥa on the hāʾ, followed by alif-rāʾ, then a fatḥa on the kāf and a sīn with tanwīn—means in Arabic “four souls.”
(6) “Qibāb al-Jarkasīyah” (Jarkasīyah Domes) is the quarter of Damascus known today as al-Sharkasīyah, also called Ḥārat al-Madāris (Neighborhood of the Schools). It consists entirely of domed buildings and stretches from the Ibn ʿArabī Mosque to the al-ʿAfīf quarter.
(7) Ibn Ṭūlūn discusses its soil in Tārīkh al-Ṣāliḥiyyah (p. 59).
(8) The biography of Khātūn will appear in Wafāyāt al-Minnah, p. 643 of this volume.
(9) Wafāyāt al-Aʿyān (vol. 1, p. 381).
(10) “Shaqīf” is pronounced with a fatḥa on the shīn, a kasra on the qāf, followed by a doubled yāʾ with sukun, and a fāʾ. Yāqūt mentions four places called Shaqīf; here it refers to Shaqīf Arnūn, a heavily fortified castle near Banyās on the Syrian coast (Muʿjam al-Buldān, vol. 3, p. 356).
(11) “Tibnīn”—with a kasra on the tāʾ, a sukun on the bāʾ, a kasra on the nūn, a yāʾ with sukun, and a final nūn—is a town in Jabal Banī ʿĀmir overlooking Banyās, between Damascus and Tyre (Muʿjam al-Buldān, vol. 2, p. 14).
(12) “Hunayn”—with a damma on the tāʾ, then sukun, nūn, yāʾ, and another nūn—is a town in Jabal ʿĀmila (Muʿjam al-Buldān, vol. 5, p. 420).