Among the notable persons who passed away that year were:
• Shaykh Ṭālib al-Rifāʿī (1) at Qaṣr Ḥajjāj (2). A well-known narration was transmitted on his authority there, and some of the aspirants used to visit him; he then died.
In the same year there also died:
• The judge, Imām ʿIzz al-Dīn Abū al-Mafākher (3) Muḥammad ibn Sharaf al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Qādir ibn ʿAfīf al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Khāliq ibn Khalīl al-Anṣārī al-Dimashqī, known as Ibn al-Ṣāʾigh (4).
He held the post of judge in Damascus twice: he was first deposed in favor of Ibn Khallikān, then Ibn Khallikān was removed and he was reinstated; after that he himself was dismissed and imprisoned (5). Bahāʾ al-Dīn ibn al-Zakī succeeded him. Ibn al-Ṣāʾigh remained out of office until he died in his orchard on the ninth of Rabīʿ al-Awwal. The funeral prayer was performed for him in the Horse Market (6), and he was buried at the foot of Mount Qāsiyūn. He had been born in 628 AH.
His conduct was praiseworthy; he was intelligent, prudent, and deeply devoted to the righteous. He had heard and transmitted hadith, and Ibn Balbān (7) compiled for him a mashyakha that Ibn Jaʿwān (8) read out to him.
After his death, teaching at the ʿAdhrāwiyyah (9) passed to Shaykh Zayn al-Dīn ʿUmar ibn Makī ibn al-Marḥal (10), the superintendent of the treasury. His own son, Muḥyī al-Dīn Aḥmad, taught at the ʿAmādiyyah and at the Klāsah lodge of the Great Mosque of Damascus, but this son Aḥmad (11) died later, on Wednesday the 8th of Rajab. The teaching chairs at the ʿAmādiyyah and the Damāghiyyah (12) were then entrusted to Shaykh Zayn al-Dīn ibn al-Fāriqī (13).
(1) Biography of al-Rifa'i in the appendix of Miraat al-Zaman (Mirror of Time), vol. 4, pp. 214–215; his name there is given as Talib ibn Abd Allah ibn Fada’il al-Rifa’i. Also in Tarikh al-Islam (History of Islam), vol. 15, p. 495.
(2) Qasr al-Hajjaj was a quarter outside Bab al-Jabiya, between it and al-Suwayqa, named after the palace erected there by al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi. (Ghuta of Damascus, vol. 2, p. 253; Historical Landmarks of Damascus, p. 450.)
(3) Biography of Ibn al-Sa’igh in the appendix of Miraat al-Zaman, vol. 4, pp. 232–234; also in Tarikh al-Islam, vol. 15, p. 506; al-Ilam bi-Wafayat al-A’lam, p. 285; al-Ibar, vol. 5, p. 344; al-Ishara, p. 373; al-Wafi bil-Wafayat, vol. 3, p. 269; al-Nujum al-Zahira, vol. 7, p. 364; al-Dalil al-Shafi, vol. 2, p. 638; Tarikh al-Salihiyya, pp. 240–241; and Shatharat al-Dhahab, vol. 7, pp. 669–670.
(4) The section between the two al-Hasiratayn is not found in any of the original sources; it has been supplied from his own references.
(5) Variant in copy B: “Ibn Khallikan a second time, then he was deposed and imprisoned.”
(6) Souq al-Khayl (Horse Market) lay northwest of the Citadel of Damascus near Souq al-Tabn (Hay Market). The hay market still exists today, selling fodder and poultry; the horse market has disappeared, though its site is still called Souq al-Khayl, with its courtyard now used for fruits and vegetables. (Historical Landmarks of Damascus, p. 306.)
(7) The printed edition reads “and he heard the hadith from him, Ibn Balban,” which is incorrect; the proper name here is Bishr.
(8) The edition reads “Ibn Jafwan,” a similar corruption encountered earlier.
(9) The edition reads “al-Azrawiyya,” a corruption. I examined it, but the text has since been lost. (Al-Daris, vol. 1, p. 373.)
(10) Biography of Ibn al-Marhal in Wafayat, p. 691.
(11) Biography of Muhyi al-Din Ibn al-Sa’igh, Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Qadir, in the appendix of Miraat al-Zaman, vol. 4, p. 210.
(12) In copy A: “al-Dimaghiyya” and “al-Amariyya.”
(13) He is Zayn al-Din Abu Muhammad Abd Allah ibn Marwan ibn Abd Allah al-Fariqi al-Shafi'i, preacher of Damascus and head of the House of Hadith. He died in the year =.