The jurist, imām, erudite scholar, and debater (1): Sharf al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Imām Kamāl al-Dīn ʿAlī ibn Isḥāq ibn Salām al-Dimashqī, the Shāfiʿī. Born in 673 AH, he pursued serious study, excelled, and mastered the disciplines. He lectured at the Jarūkhiyyah (2) and the ʿAdhrāwiyyah, later reviewed at the Ẓāhiriyyah, and issued fatwas in the Dār al-ʿAdl. Broad-minded and high-spirited, he was praised for his keen understanding, elegant handwriting (3), eloquence, and skill in disputation. He died on the twenty-fourth of Ramaḍān, leaving children and a large debt; his wife, the daughter of Zuwayzān, paid it off completely—may Allah accept that from her and grant her kindness.

al-Ṣāḥib, “Intimate of Kings” (4): Badr al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ibrāhīm al-Irbilī. He was born in 640 AH (5), devoted himself to belles-lettres, acquired a fine share of it, and earned his livelihood with it in royal courts. Among the delicate verses cited by Shaykh ʿIlm al-Dīn in his biography are:

A ruby wine that mirrors the cheek of the one I love—
while my tears give that moon to drink.
Dearer to me than hearing or sight … [ … … … ]

And his lines about a songstress:

A graceful beauty, slim of waist, tender with youth,
yielding to embrace, her languid eyelids (6);
She sang, and her supple figure swayed
like a ring-necked dove warbling upon a willow branch.

al-Ṣadr al-Raʾīs, Sharf al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Jamāl al-Dīn Ibrāhīm (7), son of Sharf al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Amīn al-Dīn Sālim ibn the ḥāfiẓ Bahāʾ al-Dīn al-Ḥasan ibn Hibat Allāh ibn Maḥfūẓ ibn Ṣaṣrā, held several offices and set out with his maternal uncle, the Chief Judge Ibn Ṣaṣrā, for the ḥajj (8). When they reached Badr (9) he was stricken with an illness that never left him until he died. He passed away in Mecca while still in iḥrām and chanting the talbiyah; the people attended his funeral and envied him this blessed death. His passing occurred on a Friday.