the devout, worshipful jurist (1), the ascetic Sharaf al-Din, Abū ʿAbd Allah Muḥammad (2) ibn Saʿd Allah ibn ʿAbd al-Aḥad (3) ibn Saʿd Allah ibn ʿAbd al-Qāhir ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid (4) ibn ʿUmar al-Ḥarrānī, known as Ibn al-Nujayh.

He died in the Valley of Banū Sālim; his body was then borne to Madinah, where it was washed, the funeral prayer was held for him in the Rawḍah, and he was buried in al-Baqīʿ to the east of ʿAqīl’s grave. People counted him fortunate for such a death and such a resting-place—may Allah have mercy on him.

Among those who admired his lot was Shaykh Shams al-Din ibn Muslim, the Ḥanbalī judge; three years later he too died and was laid to rest beside him—may Allah have mercy on them both.

Furthermore, (5) Shaykh Shams (6) al-Din ibn Abī al-ʿIzz, the Ḥanafī, had attended Shaykh Sharaf al-Din Muḥammad’s funeral a week earlier, on his return from the ḥajj after having travelled two stages beyond Mecca. Struck by the blessing of such an end, he was granted the same in Madinah.

Sharaf al-Din Ibn al-Nujayh had been a companion of our shaykh, the eminent scholar Taqī al-Din Ibn Taymiyyah, standing by him in major and trying situations—[matters that only the purest and most select heroes could undertake] (7). He shared imprisonment with him and was among his principal servants and closest companions—[enduring harm for his sake and suffering repeatedly on his account, yet his love for him only increased as he patiently bore the hostility of their enemies] (8).

In himself and in the estimation of others he was upright, of praiseworthy conduct, keen intellect and clear understanding, and distinguished for piety and asceticism. [Because of this, his final end was such a death directly after the pilgrimage: the funeral prayer for him was held in the Rawḍah of the Mosque of Allah’s Messenger ﷺ, and he was buried in al-Baqīʿ—Baqīʿ al-Gharqad—in the Prophet’s City. Thus his life was sealed with a righteous deed. Many of the early generations wished to die immediately after performing some act of devotion. His funeral was thronged with people—may Allah, exalted is He, have mercy on him. Allah knows best] (9).

[Then came the year 724 AH.] It opened with the same officials in office as in the preceding year: the caliph al-Mustakfī billāh, Abū al-Rabīʿ Sulaymān ibn al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh al-ʿAbbāsī; the ruler of the realm, al-Malik al-Nāṣir; his deputy in Egypt, Sayf al-Din Arghūn; his vizier, Amīn al-Mulk; and the judges of Egypt were likewise unchanged from those previously named.