In Dhu al-Hijjah, Emir ʿIzz al-Dīn ibn Ṣubrah was appointed governor-general of the southern provinces and supervisor of the governors, succeeding Emir Jamāl al-Dīn Āqūsh al-Rustamī. In keeping with the duties of his post he also took charge of auditing the dīwāns in Damascus. A further decree from the sultan invested the chief official ʿIzz al-Dīn ibn Ḥamzah al-Qalānisi (1) with that deputyship in place of his cousin Sharaf al-Dīn, a measure he found distasteful.
On the twenty-eighth of Dhu al-Hijjah the viceroy learned that a letter had arrived from Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn, written from the prison known as al-Jubb. He ordered that it be brought; when it was read aloud to the public he began praising the shaykh, extolling his knowledge, piety, courage, and asceticism, saying, “I have never seen his like.” The letter described how, during his confinement, he was wholly devoted to Allah and had accepted nothing from anyone—neither the sultanic stipends, nor clothing, nor allowances, nor anything else—remaining completely unsullied by such things. (2)
On Thursday the twenty-seventh of the month the two brothers of Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn, Sharaf al-Dīn and Zayn al-Dīn, were summoned from prison to the council of the viceroy Sallar. Ibn Makhlūf the Mālikī judge was present, and a lengthy debate ensued. Sharaf al-Dīn prevailed over the Mālikī jurist with transmitted texts, proofs, and learning, correcting him in several places where he had advanced false claims. The dispute concerned the divine Throne, the divine Speech, and the divine Descent. (3)
On Friday, Sharaf al-Dīn alone was brought before the viceroy Sallar. Ibn ʿAdnān attended, and Sharaf al-Dīn engaged him in discussion, argued the issues, and gained the upper hand. (4)
On Friday, the twelfth (5) of Dhu al-Hijjah, Najm (6) al-Dīn Muḥammad, son of Shaykh Fakhr al-Dīn—nephew and son-in-law of Chief Judge al-Baṣrāwī (7)—arrived by express courier from Egypt to assume the office of ḥisbah in Damascus in place of Jamāl al-Dīn Yūsuf al-ʿAjami. He was presented with a ṭaylasān, donned the robe of investiture, and paraded through the city at the opening of the year 707 AH.
During this year roughly one hundred thousand people performed ʿumrah in the Sacred Precinct of Mecca, and the Syrian caravan was led in the pilgrimage by Emir Rukn al-Dīn Baybars al-Majnūn (8).