to al-Ghazaliyyah, where Chief Qadi Bahāʾ al-Din Abū al-Baqāʾ delivered a lesson. The Ḥanafī judge sat beside him on his right, and I was present; he opened with the topic of fasting on the “day of doubt.”(1)

He then accompanied him to the Nūriyya Madrasa, where the aforementioned Chief Qadi Jamāl al-Din taught, while Chief Qadi Bahāʾ al-Din listened. They related that he began with the words of the Exalted: “O you who believe, stand firmly for justice” (Qurʾān 4:135).

Bahāʾ al-Din afterward proceeded to the Great ʿĀdiliyya Madrasa and there expounded on the verse: “Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to those entitled to them, and when you judge between people, judge with justice” (Qurʾān 4:58).

On the morning of Wednesday, the 8th of Ramaḍān, the Mālikī judge arrived from Egypt. That same day he donned the robe of investiture, entered the maqṣūrah of the Umayyad Mosque, and his diploma was read there in the presence of the judges and leading citizens, recited by Shaykh Nūr al-Din Ibn al-Ṣārim the hadith-scholar. The new judge was Chief Qadi Sharaf al-Din Aḥmad, son of Shaykh Shihāb al-Din ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, son of Shaykh Shams al-Din Muḥammad Ibn ʿAskar al-ʿIrāqī al-Baghdādī. He had visited Syria repeatedly, then settled in Egypt after serving in Baghdad as deputy to Quṭb al-Din al-Akhwī. He lectured at the Mustanṣiriyya after his father, judged in Dumyāṭ as well, and was then transferred to the judiciary of Damascus. He is a pleasant shaykh, exceedingly cordial, precise in expression, cheerful in meeting, and is praised in the conduct of his office for his chastity, integrity, and generosity of character—may Allah guide and assist him.(2)

The arrest of the amir Sarghitmush,(3) Atabeg of the amirs in Egypt.

Word reached us that he was seized on Saturday, the 25th of this Ramaḍān, having been apprehended in the Sultan’s presence on Monday the 20th. Reports differed as to whether he was executed, but his treasures and wealth were placed under guard, and his partisans and followers were subjected to confiscation. Among those beaten and wrung for money was Qadi Ḍiyāʾ al-Din(4) ibn Khaṭīb Bayt al-Ābār; it became widely rumored that he died under the torture. He had long been a point of call for travelers to Egypt, especially the people of Damascus. He had held several posts, and in the last years of his life all the awqāf in the Sultan’s realms were placed under his supervision. He also intervened in the affairs of the Umayyad Mosque and other matters, which resulted in the cutting off of the stipends of a number of scribes.