and produced critical hadith compilations. He authored many widely circulated works of great benefit and, throughout his tenure as chief judge, never ceased writing until his death. He was given to copious Qur’an recitation, and I was informed that he would rise for the night vigil—may Allah have mercy upon him.
In the month of Jumada I of this year it became public knowledge that the vanquished Franks had captured the city of Tripoli of the West (1). I read in a book by a chief judge that they took it on the night of Friday, the first of Rabiʿ I of this year; then, fifteen days later, the Muslims recaptured it and killed a number of them several times greater than what the Muslims had first suffered—praise and favor belong to Allah. The authorities (2) dispatched envoys to Syria requesting funds from the endowments set aside for captives so that they might ransom the Muslims who still remained in Frankish hands.
On Wednesday, the eleventh of Rajab al-Fard of this year, the Maliki judge—Chief Judge Jamal al-Din al-Musallati—pronounced a death sentence on a Christian from the village of al-Raʾs in the Baalbek district, named Dawud ibn Salim. It was established in the Baalbek court session that he had confessed to the testimony of Ahmad ibn Nur al-Din ʿAli ibn Ghazi of the village of al-Labwah concerning the vile language he had directed against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, reviling and slandering him with words unfit to be repeated. Accordingly, he was executed (may Allah curse him) that same day, after the afternoon call to prayer, in the Horse Market. The people then burned his body, and thus Allah cooled the hearts of believing folk—praise and gratitude be to Him.
On the morning of Sunday, the fourteenth of Shaʿban, Judge Bahaʾ al-Din Abu al-Baqaʾ al-Subki delivered a lesson in the Qaymariyya Madrasa (3), a post granted to him by his cousin, Chief Judge Taj al-Din ʿAbd al-Wahhab, son of Chief Judge Taqi al-Din al-Subki. The judges and notables were in attendance, and he began with the Almighty’s words: “and they give preference to others over themselves, even though they may be in want” (al-Hashr 59:9).
That same day, after the noon prayer, the funeral prayer was performed for the virtuous young scholar, the bearded Jamal al-Din ʿAbd Allah ibn (4) the eminent Shams al-Din Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, the Hanbali. He was buried beside his father in the Bab al-Saghir cemetery. His funeral was heavily attended. He possessed fine learning and an extraordinarily sharp mind; he issued fatwas, taught, revised, debated, and performed Hajj many times. May Allah have mercy on him and saturate his grave with His mercy.
On Monday, the nineteenth of Shawwal, a massive fire broke out during the day in the Cotton Market. The deputy of the sultanate, the chamberlains, and the judges all went there, and both officials on duty and volunteers strove to extinguish it until its danger subsided; yet a very large number of shops and houses were destroyed. Indeed, to Allah we belong and to Him we return.
I saw it the following day, while the fire was still raging and the smoke