the works of Ibn Ḥazm (1)?”
He answered to the effect that he did not care for him.
I replied, “You are excused, for the man combines the two opposite extremes in both uṣūl and furūʿ. In matters of furūʿ he is a stiff, dry literalist (ẓāhirī), while in uṣūl he drifts into a watery, formless allegiance (2) that smacks of the Qarmaṭian bāṭiniyyah and mashes together the doctrines of the heretics.”
I raised my voice so loudly that I heard myself even while asleep. I then pointed out to him a patch of green ground that looked like a palm-grove—indeed, it was uglier than that and of no use for cultivation or grazing—
so I said, “This is the land Ibn Ḥazm has planted.” [He said,] “Look—do you see in it any fruit-bearing tree or anything of benefit?”
I answered, “It is fit only for sitting on in the moonlight.” Such was the gist of what I saw, and it occurred to me that Ibn Ḥazm himself was present when I showed Shaykh Muḥyī al-Dīn the piece of land attributed to him, yet he remained silent and spoke not a word.
On Thursday, 23 Ṣafar, robes of honour were conferred upon Judge ʿImād al-Dīn ibn al-Shirjī when the office of ḥisbah was returned to him, because ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn al-Anṣārī was too weak to discharge it, his strength being sapped by a wasting illness. People offered him the customary congratulations.
On Saturday, 26 Ṣafar, the aforementioned Shaykh ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn al-Anṣārī (3) passed away in the Aminiyyah Madrasa. The funeral prayer was held for him at noon in the Umayyad Mosque, and he was buried in the Bāb al-Ṣaghīr cemetery behind the miḥrāb of the Jarrāḥ Mosque (4) in a plot located there. He was over forty years old, had taught in the Aminiyyah, and had twice served as market inspector. He left young children and considerable wealth—may Allah pardon him and have mercy on him. The school was entrusted after him to the Chief Judge Tāj al-Dīn Ibn al-Subkī by a noble and exalted decree (5).
During the last ten days of Ṣafar news reached us of the death of the Mālikī Chief Judge al-Ikhnāʾī (6) in Egypt, and that his brother Burhān al-Dīn, son of the late Chief Judge ʿAlam al-Dīn al-Shāfiʿī, had been appointed judge in his stead. Burhān al-Dīn had served with distinction as market inspector in Egypt, and supervision of the Treasury was likewise added to his duties, just as it had been for his brother.
On the morning of Sunday, the fourth of Rabīʿ al-Awwal, Chief Judge Tāj al-Dīn Abū Naṣr began to attend