a great multitude. On more than one occasion a group of scholars of the sacred law issued legal opinions that he should be put to death, until Allah Almighty relieved the people of him. These are his very words, reproduced here exactly as he wrote them. (1)
The Founder of the ʿIzzīyah (2) endowment, the amir ʿIzz al-Dīn Aybak (3), steward of al-Muʿaẓẓam’s palace.
He was counted among the intelligent, generous, and illustrious. Al-Muʿaẓẓam appointed him his deputy over Ṣarkhad (4), where he displayed energy, competence, and sound judgment. He endowed the two ʿIzzīyah institutions, the Inner and the Outer. (5 6) When al-Ṣāliḥ Ayyūb wrested Ṣarkhad from him, the sultan compensated him and he settled in Damascus. Later someone informed against him, claiming that he was in secret correspondence with al-Ṣāliḥ Ismāʿīl. (7) As a result he was placed under guard along with his wealth and possessions. He fell ill, collapsed to the ground, and said, “This is the end of my tenure.” (8) He spoke no further until he died. He was buried at Bāb al-Naṣr in Egypt—may Allah have mercy on him—and was later transferred to his own mausoleum above the Warrāqah quarter. Al-Sibt dates his death to the year 647 AH, (9) but Allah knows best.
Al-Shihāb Ghāzī, son of al-ʿĀdil, ruler of Mayyāfāriqīn, Khilāṭ, and other lands. (10)
He was among the wisest, most distinguished, and most devout of the Ayyubid princes. Among the verses he recited are: (11)
Of the wonders of time is that, though you are seated
Upon the earth in this world, you are still in motion.
Your journey, O man, is like the course of a ship
Whose passengers sit while the sails fly above them.
[Then came the year 646 AH]
In that year: the sultan, al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Najm al-Dīn Ayyub, (12) arrived from Egypt in Damascus and set the armies in order.