the Shafiʿi school; it is said that he was poisoned and died. When he passed away the bond that held al-Malik al-Saʿid’s power together came undone and his affairs fell into turmoil.
The Muḍā judge, Shams al-Din al-Hanbali (1) — Muhammad, son of Shaykh al-ʿImad Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn ʿAbd al-Wahid ibn ʿAli ibn Surur al-Maqdisi — was the first to hold the Hanbali judgeship in Egypt. He attended hadith sessions in person (2) with Ibn Ṭabarzad and others, travelled to Baghdad to study jurisprudence, mastered numerous disciplines, and later headed the Saʿid al-Suʿadāʾ lodge. A dignified shaykh with a handsome white beard, he was known for his humility, kindness, and charity. In accepting the post he stipulated that he receive no stipend, so that he might judge the people with full integrity. Al-Ẓahir dismissed him from the bench (3) in 670 AH, imprisoning him on account of certain deposits that were in his care. Two years later he was released; he kept to his house and then settled into teaching at the Ṣāliḥiyya until his death late in Muḥarram. He was buried beside his uncle (4) the hadith scholar ʿAbd al-Ghani at the foot of Mount Muqaṭṭam, and he granted an ijāza to al-Barzali.
Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Barzali said: On Saturday (5), the twelfth of Rabiʿ al-Awwal, news arrived of the death of six amirs from Egypt — Sanqur al-Baghdadi, Basta (6) al-Baladi the Tatar, Badr al-Din al-Waziri, Sunqur al-Rumi (7), and Aq Sunqur al-Fariqani (8). May Allah have mercy upon them all.
Shaykh Khidr al-Kurdi (9) — spiritual guide to al-Malik al-Ẓahir, Khidr ibn Abu Bakr ibn Musa al-Kurdi al-Nahrawani al-ʿAdawi, said to have hailed from the village of al-Muhammadiyya on Jazirat ibn ʿUmar — was credited with extraordinary states and unveilings. Yet when he mingled with the public he became infatuated with some daughters of the amirs. While al-Malik al-Ẓahir was still an emir he predicted that he would one day rule; for that reason the sultan believed in him, honored him lavishly after ascending the throne, showed him extravagant veneration, and would stay with him (10)