ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, the son of the Chief Judge Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbd al-Kāfī al-Subkī al-Shāfiʿī (1), assumed the professorial chair of the Aminiyyah Madrasa in place of Shaykh ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn, the market inspector, by reason of the latter’s passing (may Allah have mercy on him), as noted above. A large crowd of scholars, amirs, jurists, and common folk gathered for the occasion, and the lesson was well attended. He opened with the Almighty’s words: “Or do they envy the people for what Allah has granted them of His bounty?” (al-Nisāʾ 4:54) and the verses that follow. From them he drew fine inferences, touched upon various branches of learning, and spoke in a flowing, sweet diction—without hesitation, stammering, or affectation—so that he excelled and benefited the audience. Both elite and commoners, those present and others, praised him, to the point that one notable declared, “Never have I heard a lesson like it.” (2)

On Monday, the twenty-fifth of that month, Ṣadr Burhān al-Dīn ibn Luʾluʾ al-Ḥawḍī (3) died in his house in the Qaṣṣāʿīn quarter, having been ill for only a single day. The next day the funeral prayer was performed for him in the Great Mosque of Damascus after ẓuhr. He was carried out through Bāb al-Naṣr, where the deputy of the sultanate, the amir ʿAlī, came forth and led the prayer for him outside the gate. They then took him to the family cemetery at Bāb al-Ṣaghīr and buried him beside his father—may Allah have mercy on him. He—may Allah have mercy on him—was a man of honor who stood by people, enjoyed prestige at court and the favor of the deputies of the sultanate and others, loved the scholars and the righteous, and was constant at gatherings of ḥadith and exhortation. He possessed wealth, property, and a reputation for generosity, and was nearly eighty years of age—may Allah shower him with mercy.

A courier arrived from Egypt bringing news of the death of Shaykh Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad (4) ibn al-Naqqāsh. He was a brilliant preacher, an eloquent orator, a grammarian and poet, with a commanding grasp of many disciplines, a gift for weaving speech, access to the ruling elite, and a talent for acquiring wealth. He was in his early forties—may Allah have mercy on him.

The same courier also reported that the office of Chief Judge had been granted to Sharaf al-Dīn, the Mālikī of Baghdad, who had previously served as Mālikī judge in Syria before being dismissed when the Treasury in Egypt took up his case. A generous stipend was allotted to him—more than sufficient for his needs—so his supporters rejoiced.

On Sunday, the seventeenth of Rabīʿ al-Thānī, the chief administrator Amīn al-Dīn Muḥammad (5), son of Ṣadr Jamāl al-Dīn Aḥmad, son of Raʾīs Sharaf al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn