the preacher of the Tankiz congregational mosque; the judges and leading dignitaries attended, and he lectured on the Almighty’s words: “Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to whom they are due” (al-Nisāʾ 4:58).

This took place after the death of the Ḥanafī judge Shams al-Dīn ibn al-ʿIzz, who passed away on his return from the Ḥijāz. His son-in-law, ʿImād al-Dīn al-Ṭarasūsī (1), thereupon assumed the deputy judgeship. He had already acted for him during his absences, so he continued in office and was later confirmed as chief judge, appointing his own deputy.

In the same period al-Khwārazmī arrived to serve as chamberlain in place of Katbughā.

In Rabīʿ al-Awwal Shaykh Qiwām al-Dīn Masʿūd ibn Shaykh Burhān al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Shaykh Sharaf al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Kirmānī, a Ḥanafī, reached Damascus. He settled in the Qassāʿīn quarter; students frequented him, and he visited the deputy of the sultan and met with him. He was still a young man, born in 701 AH (2), and I met him personally. He possessed some learning in both the derivative and foundational sciences, yet his claims exceeded his actual attainment. His father and grandfather had composed works. After a time he moved to Egypt, where he died, as will be related later.

Also in Rabīʿ al-Awwal the conquest of Ayāsh (3) and its dependencies was completed and wrested from the Armenians. The Atlas Tower, a bow-shot and a half away across the sea, was likewise seized; the Muslims took it, by Allah’s leave, and demolished it—its gates had been plated with iron and lead (4), and its wall measured thirteen cubits in thickness by the carpenter’s gauge. The Muslims obtained very great spoils. They then besieged Kawāra (5), but the intense heat and the swarms of flies overpowered them, so the sultan ordered them to withdraw. They burned the mangonels they had brought, salvaged their iron fittings, and returned safe and enriched; a large number of volunteers had accompanied them.

On Thursday, the twenty-third of Jumādā al-Ūlā, the carpeting of the interior of the congregational mosque was finished, giving the worshippers more room. Some inconvenience, however, arose from porters carrying loads in a way contrary to long-standing custom: people used to pass through the central arcades and leave by the al-Barādah Gate, and anyone who wished could continue to the other gate with his footwear on; the only area ever barred to shoes was the prayer enclosure, unlike the rest of the arcades. Consequently the deputy of the sultan ordered the carpeting to be extended throughout, acting on the advice of its overseer, Ibn Marājil (6).