That same year: a severe rise in prices struck al-Sham, so that a gharrāra-measure of wheat was sold (1) for four hundred, barley for two hundred and fifty, and a pound of meat for six or seven (2).
In mid-Shaʿbān an intense fear of the Tatars spread, prompting many people to set out for Egypt (3). Produce was sold off, even the stores of the Citadel and the emirs. The authorities (4) decreed that anyone able to do so should travel from Damascus to the lands (5) of Egypt. A tremendous earthquake then shook al-Sham (6) and the territories of Rūm, and it is said that great panic likewise befell the Tatar regions. Glory be to the One who does whatever He wills; the command is in His hand.
The official who ordered the inhabitants of Damascus to relocate to Egypt was its deputy, Emir (7) ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Ṭaybars (8) al-Wazīrī. In Dhū al-Qaʿdah the Sultan sent for him, had him arrested, and dismissed him from office, appointing Bahāʾ al-Dīn ʿAbd Allah al-Najībī in his place, while ʿIzz al-Dīn ibn Wadaʿah (9) became vizier of Damascus.
That same year (10), [Qāḍī Shams al-Dīn] Ibn Khallikān (11) resigned from teaching at the Rukniyya in favor of Abū (12) Shāmah, attending his first lecture as he opened with al-Muzanī’s Mukhtaṣar.
Among the notable figures who died in that year (13) was the caliph al-Mustanṣir (14) ibn al-Ẓāhir bi-Amr Allah al-ʿAbbāsī (15), the very one whom al-Ẓāhir had invested with the caliphate in Egypt [in Rajab of the previous year], as we have mentioned. He was killed on the third of Muḥarram of this year. He had been noble, courageous, a gallant warrior, and he had
(1) In both A and B: the reading is “fa ubi’a” (so it was sold).
(2) In both A and B: “bi sitta wa bi sab’a” (at six and at seven).
(3) In A: “ila al-diyar al-misriyya wa ubi’at” (to the Egyptian territories, and it was sold); in B: “ila al-diyar wa ubi’at” (to the territories, and it was sold).
(4) In both A and B: “hatta al-umara’, hatta hawasil al-qal’a wa tahayy’u lil-harb min al-Sham, wa rasm wala’at al-umur” (until the emirs, until the signals at the citadel as they prepared to flee Syria, and the appointment of governors).
(5) Present only in edition T.
(6) In both A and B: “wa waqa’at al-rajfa fi al-Sham wa fi bilad al-Rum aydan” (and the tremor occurred in Syria and also in the lands of the Romans).
(7) In both A and B: “bi al-tahawul ila al-diyar al-misriyya na’ibuha al-amir ‘Alam al-Din” (by relocating to the Egyptian territories under its deputy, Emir ‘Alam al-Din).
(8) The biography of Taybars will appear under the year 689 in the Wafayat al-A’yan of this volume, God willing.
(9) He is ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Mansur ibn Muhammad ibn Wada’a al-Daris (vol. 2, p. 257).
(10) In both A and B: “wa fi hadhihi al-sana” (in this year).
(11) The biography of Ibn Khallikan will be found under the year 681 in the Wafayat al-A’yan of this volume, God willing.
(12) In both A and B: it reads “li-l-Shaykh Shihab al-Din”, and the biography of Abu Shama will appear under the year 655 in the Wafayat al-A’yan of this volume, God willing.
(13) In edition T: “wa fihi tuwuffiya min al-ayan” (and therein a notable figure died).
(14) In both A and B: the title al-Mustansir bi-llah; al-Dhahabi used only al-Mustansir to distinguish him from his brother.
(15) The biography of al-Mustansir bi-llah appears at the end of Rawdatayn (p. 213) and at the end of Mirat al-Zaman (vol. 1, pp. 441–452 and 500–501; vol. 2, pp. 163–170), in Tarikh al-Islam (vol. 14, p. 925), in Siyar A’lam al-Nubala’ (vol. 23, pp. 168–171), in al-Ibar (vol. 5, pp. 258–259), in an-Nujum az-Zahira (vol. 7, pp. 109–117; p. 206), and in Tarikh al-Khulafa’ of al-Suyuti (pp. 477–478).