been most protective of it, so al-Ashraf resolved to cut off a small piece of it (1), but then thought better of it, fearing that the entire relic might be lost. Allah then decreed that Ibn Abī Ḥadīd should die in Damascus, and he bequeathed the sandal to King al-Ashraf, who duly placed it in the Dār al-Ḥadīth and transferred to that institute a collection of fine and precious books.
He built the Jāmiʿ al-Tawbah in the ʿUqaybah quarter, on a site that had been a khān belonging to Ibn al-Zanjarī and notorious for many abominations. He also erected Masjid al-Qaṣab, Jāmiʿ Jarrāḥ, and the Masjid of Dār al-Saʿādah.
He was born in 576 AH and was brought up in the Holy City of Jerusalem under the guardianship (2) of the amir Fakhr al-Din ʿUthmān al-Zanjarī. His father loved him, as did his brother al-Muʿaẓẓam. His father appointed him governor over many cities in the Jazīrah, among them Edessa and Harran; his realm expanded further when (3) he gained control of Khilāṭ. He was one of the chastest of men and exemplary in both outer conduct and inner disposition, knowing no women save his wives and concubines (4)—despite the fact that he did partake of wine, which is indeed astonishing.
Al-Sibt (5) relates the following episode from him: “One day I was sitting in this belvedere (6) in Khilāṭ when a servant entered and said, ‘At the door there is a woman seeking permission to come in.’ She was admitted, and I beheld a form of beauty the like of which I had never seen. She proved to be the daughter of the king who had ruled Khilāṭ before me. She complained that the chamberlain ʿAlī had seized a village belonging to her, that she needed houses to rent, and that she supported herself by doing embroidery for women. I ordered that her property be returned and that a house be provided for her. When she entered I had risen for her, seated her before me, and told her to veil her face after she uncovered it. An old woman accompanied her. When her business was concluded I said to her, ‘Rise now, in the name of Allah Most High.’
“The old woman then said, ‘O Khund, she has come only in the hope of serving you tonight.’
“I replied, ‘Allah forbid—such a thing shall never happen.’ I pictured my own daughter perhaps suffering what this woman had suffered. She rose—saying in Armenian, ‘May Allah protect you just as (7) you have protected me’—and I said to her, ‘Whatever need you may have, convey it (8) to me and I will fulfil it for you.’ She prayed for me and departed.
“My soul then whispered to me, ‘In (9) the lawful there is sufficiency from the unlawful; marry her.’ But I said, ‘By Allah, that shall never be! Where would modesty, nobility, and chivalry be then?’”