and devoted himself to grammar, Arabic, and lexicography (1). He memorised the poetry of the Arabs so thoroughly that he composed superb, polished verse—mostly panegyrics and elegies, with only a little satire. He taught in the madrasahs of Busra at the Camel’s Kneeling-place (2) north of the town, a spot that is visited [it is the resting-place famous among the people, and Allah knows best as to the truth of that] (3).

He afterwards moved to serve as Friday-preacher for the village east of Busra, adopted the Shafiʿi school, and studied under al-Nawawi and Shaykh (4) Tāj al-Dīn al-Fazārī—[who, as our shaykh, the erudite Ibn al-Zamlakānī, told me, used to honour and esteem him greatly] (5). He remained there for about twelve years, then transferred to the pulpit of Mujaydil, the village of my mother—may Allah have mercy on her—where he stayed a long time, enjoying well-being, sufficiency, and abundant recitation of the Quran. He was an excellent preacher, well-received (7) by the people; his words carried weight with them on account of his piety, eloquence, pleasant manner, engaging conversation, and sociable company (8). He preferred to live in the countryside, finding there gentleness and an easier means of obtaining lawful provision for himself and his family (9).

Several children were born to him—some from my mother and others from a wife before her. The eldest were Ismāʿīl, then Yūnus and Idrīs; from my mother came ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, Muḥammad, and a number of daughters; then I was the youngest. I was given the name of my brother Ismāʿīl, for he had previously arrived in Damascus and pursued study there after memorising the Quran with our father. He read (10) an introductory text in grammar, memorised al-Tanbīh (11) together with its commentary under the scholar Tāj al-Dīn al-Fazārī, and mastered al-Muntakhab in the principles of jurisprudence, as our shaykh Ibn al-Zamlakānī informed me. Later he fell from the roof of the Shāmiyyah Barāniyyah, lingered a few days, and died. My father sorrowed for him deeply and composed many lines of elegy. When I was born thereafter, he named me after him, so the first of his sons was Ismāʿīl and the last and youngest was likewise Ismāʿīl (12). May Allah show mercy to those who have passed on, and grant a good ending to those who remain.