and other works. He was a devout, upright man; he would lend out his books and persist (1) in attending (2) hadith gatherings. May Allah the Exalted have mercy on him.
[Then the year 661 AH began] It opened while Baybars was the sovereign of the Syrian and Egyptian lands; over Syria his deputy was [Jamal al-Din] Aqqush al-Najībī. The judge of Damascus was [Shams al-Din] (3) Ibn Khallikān, and its vizier was ʿIzz al-Din ibn Wadāʿah (4). The people had no caliph, and coins were struck only in the name of al-Mustansir, who had been killed the previous year.
[Account of the caliphate of al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allah Abū al-ʿAbbās] Aḥmad ibn the amir Abū ʿAli al-Qabī, son of the amir ʿAli, son of the amir Abū Bakr, son of the imam al-Mustarshid billāh, Commander of the Faithful Abū Manṣūr al-Faḍl, son of the imam al-Mustaẓhir billāh, [Abū al-ʿAbbās] Aḥmad al-ʿAbbāsī al-Hāshimī.
On Thursday, the eighth (5) of Muḥarram, the sultan al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Din Baybars sat with the amirs and the men of authority in the Great Īwān of the Citadel of al-Jabal. The caliph al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allah arrived on horseback and dismounted at the īwān, a carpet having been spread for him beside the sultan—this after his lineage had been duly verified. His genealogy was then read aloud to the people; al-Ẓāhir Baybars turned to him and swore allegiance (6), and the people pledged allegiance after him. It was a day long remembered. When (7) Friday, the following day (8), arrived, the caliph addressed the people, saying in his sermon:
“Praise be to Allah, who has raised for the House of al-ʿAbbās a pillar and a protector, and has granted them from Himself a sultan to champion them. I praise Him in prosperity and in adversity; I seek His aid in giving thanks for the favors He has lavished; I seek His help in repelling the enemies; and I testify that there is no deity but Allah