Toward the end of Ṣafar (1) the Syrian caravan returned.

Among those who performed the ḥajj that year was Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn Ibn Taymiyya (may Allah have mercy on him). Their amir was al-Bāsiṭī. While they were at Maʿān a violently fierce wind struck them, causing a number of deaths; it even tossed camels from their places and swept turbans off people’s heads, throwing everyone into disarray. During that same month of Ṣafar tremendous hail fell on Damascus, ruining much of the produce, so that wheat sold at ten uqiyyas (2) for a single dirham, and large numbers of livestock died.

In the same year the district of al-Karak was shaken by an earthquake, and many buildings in Talfitā collapsed (3).

Among the notable figures who died this year were:

• Shaykh al-Urmawī (4) — the righteous exemplar and gnostic Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm, son of the righteous Shaykh Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūsuf (5) ibn Yūnus ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Sulaymān (6) al-Urmawī. He lived in his retreat at the foot of Mount Qāsiyūn, devoted to worship and seclusion, constant in his litanies and remembrances, and much loved by the people. He died in Muḥarram and was buried beside his father at the foot of the mountain.

• Ibn al-Aʿmā, author of the maqāmah — Shaykh Ẓahīr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn al-Mubārak ibn Sālim ibn Abī al-Ghanāʾim al-Dimashqī, known as Ibn al-Aʿmā. Born in 610 AH, he had studied ḥadith and was accomplished and learned. He composed odes in praise of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, which he entitled “al-Shafʿiyyah” (7); each poem consists of twenty-two lines.
Al-Barzalī said, “I heard him recite his celebrated Maqāmah al-Mujarradiyyah (8, 9).” He died in Muḥarram and was buried in the Ṣūfiyyah cemetery (10).