—al-Faraj ibn al-Jawzi; on that day his son ʿAbd al-Raḥmān lectured in his stead (1), for he himself was absent on a diplomatic mission to certain kings. The righteous and learned shaykh Abū al-Ḥasan al-Maghribī al-Mālikī likewise delivered the Mālikī lesson that day in an acting capacity, until another shaykh should be appointed. Endowed to the college were treasury-chests of books the like of which had never been heard of for their sheer number, their fine calligraphy, and the superior quality of the volumes dedicated to the endowment (2).

The official who oversaw the construction of this madrasa was Muʾayyad al-Dīn Abū Ṭālib Muḥammad ibn al-ʿAlqamī (3), who would later become vizier. At the time he was Ustādhdār of the caliphal palace, and on that day robes of honour were bestowed upon him and upon the vizier Naṣīr al-Dīn (4).

Subsequently, on the fourteenth of Dhū al-Qaʿdah, the Shāfiʿī chair was vacated and assigned to the Chief Judge Abū al-Maʿālī ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muqbil (5), in addition to the judgeship already in his hands. This took place after the death of Muḥyī al-Dīn ibn Faḍlān. The latter had served for a time as judge [in Baghdad], had lectured at the Niẓāmiyyah and elsewhere, was then dismissed, later restored to favour, and, [toward the end] (6), once again taught at the Mustanṣiriyyah as we have mentioned. When he died, the position passed to Ibn Muqbil—may Allah have mercy on them both.

In this same year al-Ashraf rebuilt the Jarrah Mosque outside Bāb al-Ṣaghīr (7).

Also that year the envoy of the Emperor of the Franks came to al-Ashraf bearing gifts, among them a white bear whose fur resembled a lion’s mane; they said (8) that it would go down into the sea, haul out fish, and devour them. In that year as well (9) there arrived a white peacock.

That year the construction of the qaysariyyah that stands before the coppersmiths (10) was completed; the goldsmiths’ market was transferred there, and the pearl market—where the former goldsmiths had been, beside the blacksmiths—was left vacant. In the same year, too, the shops in the ziyādah were renovated.