Then the year 631 AH began. In it (1): the construction of the Mustanṣiriyyah Madrasa in Baghdad (2) was completed; no school of its like had ever been built before (3). It was endowed for the four legal schools, with sixty-two jurists assigned to each madhhab, four assistant lecturers, and one principal professor for every school, together with a shaykh of hadith, two Qur’an reciters, and ten auditors (4). There was also a shaykh of medicine and ten Muslim students devoted to the science (5) of medicine, as well as an elementary school for orphans. For all of them there was allotted (6) an ample provision of bread, meat, sweets (7), and stipends—more than sufficient for each individual.

On Thursday, the fifth of Rajab, the inaugural lectures (8) were held there. The caliph al-Mustanṣir bi-Allah himself attended, together with the dignitaries of his court—emirs, viziers, judges, jurists, Sufis, and poets—and not one of them was absent. A magnificent banquet was set out; those present ate from it, and portions were sent to the other houses (9) of Baghdad, whether of the elite or of the commoners. Robes of honor were bestowed upon all the professors and attendees, and upon every state official, jurist, and assistant lecturer (10). It was a memorable and praiseworthy occasion.

The poets recited before the caliph refined panegyrics and peerless odes (11). Ibn al-Saʿī (12) has recorded all of this in his History at length, fully and satisfactorily.

It was further resolved (13) that the Shafiʿi chair of instruction be entrusted to the shaykh, the imam, the erudite Muḥyī al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allah ibn Faḍlān (14); the Ḥanafi chair to the imam, the scholar Rashīd al-Dīn Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Muḥammad al-Farghānī (15); and the Ḥanbali chair to the imam, the scholar Muḥyī (16) al-Dīn Yūsuf, son of Shaykh Abū—