the Citadel with a drawn sword in his hand and killed a Christian. He was brought before the sultan; taking him for a spy, the ruler ordered him to be hanged, and he was. I was among those who had studied grammar under him.
The righteous and accomplished Qur’an-reciter, Shaykh (1) Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad b. al-Ṭabīb b. ʿAbd (2) Allāh al-Ḥalabī (3) al-ʿAzīzī al-Fuwārisī, known as Ibn al-Ḥalabiyyah, heard hadith from the Khatīb of Mardā (4) and Ibn ʿAbd al-Dāʾim (5). He applied himself earnestly, attained mastery, and taught the Qur’an to the people. He died in Rabīʿ al-Awwal at the age of seventy-eight and was buried at the foot of the mountain.
Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad b. Muḥammad (6), called Ibn Quṭaynah (7) of Zarraʿ, was a merchant famed for his immense wealth, merchandise, and enterprises. It is said that the zakat on his property in the year of Ghāzān reached twenty-five thousand dinars. He died in Rabīʿ al-Ākhir of this same year and was buried in his own mausoleum (8) by the gate of his orchard, known as al-Mawqiʿ (9), near Thūrā on the Qābūn road—an imposing tomb. He held many estates.
Judge and Imām Jamāl al-Dīn (10) Abū Bakr b. ʿAyyāsh (11) b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Khābūrī, the judge of Baalbek and the foremost disciple of Shaykh Tāj al-Dīn al-Fazārī (12), came from Baalbek intending to meet the judge of Zarraʿ, but died in the Bādirāʾiyyah madrasa (13) on the night of Saturday, the seventh of Jumādā al-Ūlā. He was buried on Mount Qāsiyūn at the age of seventy. A jumble of dreams! (14)
(1) I did not come across any biographical entry for him.
(2) In the published edition: Ubayd.
(3) In the published edition: al-Hilli, which is a corruption.
(4) He is Muhammad ibn Ismail ibn Ahmad al-Maqdisi al-Nabulusi (d. 656 AH).
(5) He is Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Daim ibn Ni‘mah Zayn al-Din Abu al-‘Abbas (d. 668 AH).
(6) His biography appears in al-Dhayl (p. 129), al-Durar al-Kamina (vol. 1, p. 294), al-Daris (vol. 2, p. 272), and al-Shadharat (vol. 6, pp. 59–60).
(7) In the published edition: Qutniyyah, by the addition of an initial n, which is a corruption.
(8) Turbah al-Qutiniyyah; see al-Daris (vol. 2, p. 273) and Munadamat al-Atlal (p. 347).
(9) In both the A manuscript and the published edition: al-Marfa‘, which is a corruption.
(10) His biography is found in al-Durar al-Kamina (vol. 1, pp. 444 & 454), where he is mentioned once by Ibn Abbas and once by Ibn ‘Iyash; this appears to be a misunderstanding.
(11) In the published edition: Abbas. We have adopted the reading of al-Durar and al-Daris (vol. 1, p. 273), which mentions him alongside his son Sadr al-Din Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Iyash ibn Askar al-Khaburi.
(12) In the B manuscript: al-Firqah. He served as teacher at the Badra’iyah school from 676 AH (al-Daris, vol. 1, p. 208).
(13) In the published edition: al-Badraniyyah, located within Bab al-Faradis and al-Salama, north of Jirun and east of al-Nasiriyah al-Janubiyah; formerly known as Dar Usama (same source).
(14) Not found in the B manuscript; it contains the phrase “may Allah have mercy on him.”