When al-Kāmil visited his brother al-Ashraf in Damascus, he hosted him in the Citadel while al-Ashraf himself moved to the Dār al-Saʿādah. (1) Al-Ashraf then began extolling the virtues of the jurist-shaykh, whereupon al-Kāmil said, (2) “I would (3) like to see him.” So he sent a note to Baalbek summoning him, (4) and the shaykh arrived at the Dār al-Saʿādah. Al-Kāmil came down to receive him; they conversed together, reviewing various points of knowledge. During the discussion (5) the question of execution by a heavy implement (6) arose, and they mentioned the hadith of the slave-girl whom a Jew had killed by crushing her head between two stones, whereupon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered that he be put to death. (7)
Al-Kāmil remarked, “But he never confessed.” The jurist-shaykh replied, “In Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim it says: ‘and he confessed.’” Al-Kāmil responded, “I myself abridged Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim [but I did not find that wording in it].” (8) He therefore had the five volumes of his abridgement brought. Al-Kāmil took one volume, al-Ashraf another, ʿImād al-Dīn ibn Mūsak (9) a third, and the jurist-shaykh a fourth. The very first place the shaykh opened, he found the report exactly as he had stated. Al-Kāmil marvelled at his memorisation and the speed with which he produced the text. He wished to take him back to Egypt, but al-Ashraf promptly sent him back to Baalbek. Al-Kāmil said, “He prefers nothing to Baalbek,” and sent him a large amount of gold.
His son Quṭb al-Dīn said: “My father would accept the beneficence of kings, saying, ‘What awaits me in the public treasury is greater than this.’ He would accept nothing from princes or viziers unless it was an edible gift or the like, and he would send them [something] of the same, which they accepted for blessing and healing.
“He related that his wealth grew and he became prosperous, (10) acquiring ample means. It was reported to him that al-Ashraf had written a deed granting him the village of Yūnīn (11) and had given it to Muḥyī al-Dīn ibn al-Jawzī to obtain the Caliph’s countersignature. When my father learned of it, he seized the document, tore it up, and said, ‘I am in no need of that.’
“My father would never accept anything given as charity, claiming that he was of the lineage of [ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib].” (12)