of Aḥmad, and he mastered the text under Ibn Ḥamdān, teaching it with him for many years. Ibn Ḥamdān often spoke highly of him—especially of his quick mind and keen intelligence. (1)

He then turned to chancery work and entered the service of the amir Qarāsunqur in Aleppo, who appointed him supervisor of the endowments and khaṭīb of Aleppo’s Great Mosque. (1) When he later came to Damascus he was made khaṭīb of the Umayyad Mosque (1); he remained in the pulpit for forty-two days, after which Jalāl al-Din al-Qazwīnī was reinstated. He was subsequently placed in charge of the bimaristan, the office of ḥisba, and the supervision of the Umayyad Mosque, and at one point he was designated judge for the Ḥanbalīs. He died on the night of Wednesday, the seventh of Jumādā al-Ākhira, and was buried at Bāb al-Ṣaghīr—may Allah have mercy on him.

The erudite secretary, Quṭb al-Din: Aḥmad (2) ibn Mufaḍḍal ibn Faḍl Allah al-Miṣrī, elder brother of Muḥyī al-Din, the secretary of Tankiz, and father of the statesman ʿIlm al-Din. He was an accomplished chancery scribe; after his brother’s death he took over the auditing of the endowments. Being the older of the two, he was the one who had taught his brother the craft of writing and other skills. He died on the night of Monday, the second of Rajab, and his condolence gathering was held in the Sumaysāṭiyya (3), whose endowments he himself administered.

The great amir, “King of the Arabs,” Maḥmala (4) ibn ʿĪsā ibn Muhannā, brother of Muhannā, died in Salamiyya (5) on Saturday, the seventh of Rajab. He was past sixty years of age, handsome in appearance, commendable in conduct, energetic, and knowledgeable—may Allah have mercy on him.

In this same month news reached Damascus of the death of the senior vizier Tāj al-Din (6) ʿAlī Shāh ibn Abī Bakr al-Tabrīzī (7), vizier to Abū Saʿīd after the slaying of Saʿd al-Din al-Sāwī. He was a venerable elder, a man of piety and goodness. His body was carried to Tabriz and he was buried there in the previous month—may Allah have mercy on him.

Amir Sayf al-Din Bakhtamur (8), governor of the governors and overseer of endowments in a number of towns—including a madrasa in al-Salt (9) and a teaching post in the Madrasa of Abū ʿUmar (10), among other holdings—died in Alexandria, where he was serving as its deputy, on the fifth of Ramadan. May Allah have mercy on him.