The eminent commander Faris (1) al-Din Aqṭāy (2) al-Mustaʿrib, the atabeg of the Egyptian dominions.
He was first a mamluk of Ibn Yaman (3). Later he entered the service of al-Ṣāliḥ Ayyub, who advanced him, and under al-Muẓaffar his standing grew until he was appointed atabeg al-ʿasākir (commander-in-chief of the armies). When al-Muẓaffar was killed, the emirs set their sights on the throne, whereupon Aqṭāy pledged allegiance to al-Malik al-Ẓāhir, and the army followed his lead. Al-Ẓāhir appreciated this act and never forgot it; yet, a little before his own death, his favour toward Aqṭāy waned. Aqṭāy himself died in this year in Cairo.
The shaykh ʿAbd Allah ibn Ghanim (4) ibn ʿAli ibn Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAsākir ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Maqdisī.
He maintained a zāwiyah in Nablus, composed polished poetry, and spoke with force on the science of taṣawwuf. Al-Yūnīnī devoted an extensive notice to him and quoted a large portion of his verse (5).
The Chief Judge, Kamāl al-Din (6) Abū al-Fath ʿUmar ibn Bundār (7) ibn ʿUmar ibn ʿAlī al-Tiflisī, a Shafiʿi.
Born in Tiflis (8) in 601 AH, he was a learned scholar of uṣūl and an able debater. He served for a time as deputy judge, then assumed the judiciary outright during the reign of Hulāwun—Hulagu. Upright and scrupulous, he sought neither office nor a teaching chair despite his many dependants and limited means. When their rule ended, some people turned against him and he was compelled to proceed to Cairo, where he continued to teach until he died in Rabiʿ I of this year. He was buried in the Lesser Qarafa cemetery.
Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Shākir (9) ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Tanūkhī; Tanūkh belongs to Qudaʿa.
(1) Biography – Aqtay – in the appendix to Mir’at al-Zaman (vol. 3, pp. 48–54), Tarikh al-Islam (vol. 15, p. 236), al-‘Ibar (vol. 5, p. 297), al-Isharah (p. 366), al-Wafi bi-l-Wafayat (vol. 9, p. 318), al-Nujum al-Zahira (vol. 7, p. 242), and Shudhurat al-Dhahab (vol. 7, p. 586).
(2) Variant reading: al-Amir Faris ‘Abdallah Aqtay, the Arabist, Atabeg of the Egyptian army; in other editions al-Mustarabī.
(3) In the appendix to Mir’at al-Zaman (vol. 3, pp. 47–48): Najm al-Din Muhammad ibn Yamin.
(4) Biography – ‘Abdallah ibn Ghanim – in the appendix to Mir’at al-Zaman (vol. 3, pp. 51–62) and Tarikh al-Islam (vol. 15, p. 241).
(5) In his biography he quotes three excerpts of his poetry (pp. 52–56).
(6) Biography – Kamal al-Din al-Tiflisi – in the appendix to Mir’at al-Zaman (vol. 3, pp. 64–65), Tarikh al-Islam (vol. 15, p. 246), al-‘Ibar (vol. 5, pp. 298–299), al-Isharah (p. 365), al-Nujum al-Zahira (vol. 7, p. 244), Tabaqat al-Isnawi (vol. 1, p. 317), al-Daris (vol. 1, p. 363), and Shudhurat al-Dhahab (vol. 7, p. 589).
(7) Bandar – spelled with a final alif bearing a dhamma, followed by a silent nun. (Tabaqat al-Isnawi, vol. 1, p. 317.)
(8) Tiflīs (Tbilisi): pronounced with a fatḥa on the first letter and a kasra on the second; a town in Armenia. It was surrendered peacefully to Muslims during the caliphate of ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan. (Mu‘jam al-Buldan, vol. 2, pp. 35–37.) Today it is the capital of the Republic of Georgia, known as Tbilisi.
(9) Biography – al-Tunukhi – in the appendix to Mir’at al-Zaman (vol. 3, pp. 38–45), Tarikh al-Islam (vol. 15, p. 238), al-Alam (p. 280), al-‘Ibar (vol. 5, p. 299), al-Nujum (vol. 7, p. 244), al-Isharah (p. 365), al-Wafi (vol. 9, p. 71), and Shudhurat al-Dhahab (vol. 7, p. 590).