I said (1): It is the site that is today called the Sultan’s Stable.
The Sultan himself carted away the soil, while his mamluks carried before him, on the pommels of their saddles, baskets of earth which they would empty (2) in the Green Parade-Ground. His brother al-Ṣāliḥ [Ismāʿīl] and his mamluks did likewise—one party would work one day, the other the next.
In the same year a riot broke out between the people of al-Shāghūr and those of al-ʿAqībah. They fought in al-Raḥbah and the Money-Changers’ Quarter, whereupon the army rode out against them in full battle dress, and al-Muʿaẓẓam himself arrived, seized their leaders, and imprisoned them (3).
That year also saw the appointment of an independent preacher for the Musalla. The first to occupy the post was al-Ṣadr (4), the repeating lecturer at the Astronomical College (5); after him Bahāʾ (6) al-Dīn ibn Abī al-Yusr (7) delivered the sermon there, followed by the Banū Ḥassān, and so it remains to this day.
In the same year, among the notable deaths (8) was that of the lord of Aleppo, al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Abū Manṣūr (9) Ghāzī ibn Sultan Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb.
He was among the finest of kings and the boldest in conduct, yet he could be oppressive, often meting out severe punishment for minor transgressions (10). He honoured scholars, poets, and the poor, reigned for thirty years, and joined his father on many campaigns. Intelligent, of sound judgment, eloquent speech, and keen insight, he lived to (11) the age of forty-four.