a day or two ahead of his own arrival. Accordingly, Shaykh Taqi al-Din appeared before the sultan on the eighth of the month. A crowd from Alexandria accompanied the shaykh to bid him farewell. He met the sultan on Friday; the ruler honoured him, advanced to receive him, and walked toward him in a packed assembly (1) that included the judges of Egypt and Syria. The sultan reconciled matters between the shaykh and those judges.

The shaykh then proceeded to Cairo and took up residence near the shrine of al-Husayn—may Allah be pleased with him. People came to him in droves; amirs, soldiers, and many jurists and judges visited, some of them apologising and disavowing what they had previously done. [He said, ‘I have absolved everyone who has harmed me.’] (2)

I say: Qadi Jamal al-Din Ibn al-Qalanisi related to me the details of that session and the honour and esteem shown to the shaykh—the gratitude and praise he received from the sultan and the emirs in attendance. The chief judge Mansur al-Din al-Hanafi also told me of it, but Ibn al-Qalanisi’s report was more detailed, [for at the time he was the military judge, and both men were present at the gathering] (3).

He informed me that when the sultan [saw Shaykh Taqi al-Din Ibn Taymiyyah enter] (4), he rose to his feet at once, walked with him to the edge of the audience hall, and they embraced for a moment. Then he took the shaykh by the hand and led him to an alcove (5) with a lattice overlooking a garden, where they sat conversing for a while. Afterwards they returned, the shaykh’s hand still in the sultan’s, and the sultan sat down with Ibn Jamaʿah, the qadi of Egypt, on his right, the vizier Ibn al-Khalili on his left, and beneath them Ibn Sasra, followed by Sadr al-Din ʿAli al-Hanafi. Shaykh Taqi al-Din sat directly before the sultan on the edge of his cushion.

The vizier then proposed that the non-Muslim protégés (ahl al-dhimma) be required once again to wear white turbans bearing distinctive badges, adding that they had pledged an extra seven hundred thousand a year to the treasury on top of the existing levy. Everyone fell silent—the judges of Egypt and Syria and the leading scholars of both lands were present, among them Ibn al-Zamlakani.

Ibn al-Qalanisi continues: I was in the sultan’s council beside Ibn al-Zamlakani; none of the scholars or judges spoke. The sultan asked, ‘What do you say?’ seeking their opinion, but no one answered. Shaykh Taqi al-Din then knelt on his knees and addressed the sultan in stern tones, forcefully rebutting the vizier’s words. He raised his voice, while the sultan soothed him with gentleness, patience, and respect. [The shaykh spoke with such force that no one else could have matched him or even come close] (6); he bitterly censured anyone who would concur with the proposal.

He said to the sultan: ‘Far be it from Your Majesty that the very first session you hold in the splendour of restored rule should be one in which you empower the People of the Covenant [for the sake of the perishable gains of this world. Remember Allah’s favour upon you when He returned the kingdom to you, humbled your enemy, and granted you victory over your foes] (7).’ He then related that