told me that they had taken from him three thousand dirhams in trading silver, one thousand dirhams in Venetian coin, and two dinars whose combined weight equaled three standard dinars. Such, at any rate, is what he told me—if he was truthful.

On the morning of Saturday, the 5th of Jumada al-Awwal, the Chief Judge Shihab al-Din (1) al-Hanafi summoned Shaykh ʿAli ibn al-Banna. The shaykh had been seated on the floor of the Umayyad Mosque addressing the common folk with homilies and other extemporaneous exhortations. It appears that, in the course of his talk, he ventured a remark concerning Abu Hanifah—may Allah have mercy on him—so he was brought in and ordered to recant. Chief Judge Sharaf al-Din al-Kafri then forbade him to preach to the people and imprisoned him; I was later informed that the judge affirmed his Islam and released him the same day.

This Ibn al-Banna is known for his asceticism and self-restraint. An Egyptian, he listens to hadith and recites it, delivers sermons of admonition and heart-softening counsel, and employs parables. Many of the common people have inclined toward him and grown fond of him; his speech is readily understood and he will sometimes provoke laughter. I have attended his gatherings—he is naturally eloquent and easy to follow—yet in the outburst reported of him he alluded to matters that ought not to be mentioned. Allah is the One who grants success.

Then, on Tuesday the 8th, he again took his seat before the people and spoke as was his habit. The same judge sought him, and it is said that the shaykh proved obstinate. And there the matter ended; Allah knows best.

The accession of al-Malik al-Mansur Salah al-Din Muhammad (2), son of al-Malik al-Muzafar Hajji son of al-Malik al-Nasir Muhammad son of al-Malik al-Mansur Qalawun ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Salihi, and the fall of his uncle al-Malik al-Nasir Hasan ibn al-Malik al-Nasir Muhammad ibn al-Malik al-Mansur Qalawun.

When his greed multiplied, his rapacity increased, his conduct toward his subjects deteriorated, and he cramped their livelihoods and earnings; when he erected colossal buildings of which he had little need; when he seized much of the bayt al-māl (public treasury) and its funds and purchased from it many villages, towns, and rural estates (rusātiq) (3)—all this weighed heavily upon the people. None of the judges, governors, scholars, or pious men dared to censure him, confront him, or advise him in what would have been to his own benefit and that of the Muslims.

So Allah exacted retribution from him: He loosed the Sultan’s own troops against him and turned the hearts of his subjects, high and low, against him, because he had cut off their stipends, allowances, jawāmk (regular salaries), and bread rations, adding all of that to the perquisites of his favorites. Consequently the number of emirs, soldiers, commanders (4), scribes, and signatories dwindled; the people were harmed, and he even encroached upon the stipends of their children and dependants. At that point Allah the Exalted ordained his destruction at the hands of one of his closest retainers, the great emir Sayf al-Din Yalbugha al-Khassaki. The Sultan had set out to seize him, but he had prepared for the confrontation; when the Sultan mounted to arrest him, he in turn mounted with an army,