Ibn al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allah, the Caliph al-Mustamsik bi-Allah, to the daughter of the Caliph al-Mustanṣir, son of al-Ẓāhir; his father, the Sultan, and the eminent dignitaries were in attendance (1).
On Saturday, the ninth of Jumāda al-Ūlā, work was begun on the house known as Dār al-ʿAqīqī, opposite the ʿĀdiliyya, so that it might be turned into a madrasa and mausoleum for [Sultan] al-Malik al-Ẓāhir. Until then it had been nothing more than the residence of al-ʿAqīqī, adjoining the Ḥammām al-ʿAqīqī. The foundations of the tomb were laid on the fifth of Jumāda al-Ākhira, and the madrasa’s foundations as well (2).
In Ramaḍān a massive cloud rose over the city of Ṣafad (3). Brilliant lightning flashed from it, a tongue of fire shot forth, and a tremendous, terrifying sound was heard. A bolt then struck the minaret of Ṣafad (4), splitting it from top to bottom with a fissure wide enough for a hand to enter.
[Among the notable deaths that year] were the Parwāna (5) in the first ten days of Muḥarram, and al-Malik al-Ẓāhir (6) in the last ten days of the same month. An account of both has already been given (7).
The great amir Badr al-Dīn Bilbak ibn ʿAbd Allah (8), the khazindar and deputy governor of Egypt for al-Malik al-Ẓāhir, was generous and highly praised. He possessed some learning and knowledge of people’s annals and histories, and he endowed a lesson at the al-Azhar Mosque on
(1) Manuscript B reads: "wa wujūh al-mamlaka wa kāna yawman mashhūdan" ("the dignitaries of the kingdom, and it was a celebrated day").
(2) The term in parentheses refers to al-Zāhiriyya.
(3) Editions A and Ṭ read: “sifat”.
(4) Editions A and Ṭ read: “sifat”.
(5) al-Barwānah, whose real name was Sulaymān ibn ʿAlī ibn Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥasan Muʿīn al-Dīn; his biography appears in Mirʾat al-Zamān (vol. 3, pp. 268–271), Tārīkh al-Islām (vol. 15, p. 312), al-Ishārah (p. 368), al-ʿIbar (vol. 5, p. 310), al-Wāfī bil-Wafayāt (vol. 15, p. 47), Fawāt al-Wafayāt (vol. 2, p. 71), al-Nujūm al-Zāhirah (vol. 7, p. 279), al-Dalīl al-Shāfī (vol. 8, p. 319), and Shudhūrāt al-Dhahab (vol. 7, p. 614).
(6) al-Malik al-Zāhir, Baybars ibn ʿAbd Allāh; his biography is found in Mirʾat al-Zamān (vol. 3, pp. 239–262), Mukhtaṣar Abī al-Fidāʾ (vol. 4, pp. 10–11), Wafayāt al-Aʿyān (vol. 4, pp. 152–156), Tārīkh al-Islām (vol. 15, p. 306), al-Ishārah (p. 367), al-ʿIbar (vol. 5, pp. 308–309), al-Iʿlām bi-Wafayāt al-Aʿlām (p. 282), Fawāt al-Wafayāt (vol. 1, pp. 235–247), al-Nujūm al-Zāhirah (vol. 7, p. 278), al-Dalīl al-Shāfī (vol. 10, p. 203), Ḥusn al-Muḥāḍarah (vol. 2, pp. 95–105), al-Dāris (vol. 1, pp. 349–351), Shudhūrāt al-Dhahab (vol. 7, pp. 610–611), and Tarwīḥ al-Qulūb (p. 74).
(7) Manuscript B reads: “min dhakara tarjamatayhumā” ("from those who mentioned their biographies").
(8) The biography of Baylibak ibn ʿAbd Allāh is given in Mirʾat al-Zamān (vol. 3, pp. 262–264), Tārīkh al-Islām (vol. 15, p. 308), al-Ishārah (p. 368), al-ʿIbar (vol. 5, p. 309), al-Wāfī bil-Wafayāt (vol. 10, p. 365), al-Nujūm al-Zāhirah (vol. 7, p. 276), al-Dalīl al-Shāfī (vol. 1, p. 211), and Shudhūrāt al-Dhahab (vol. 7, p. 613).