On Sunday the third, the two judges for the Hanafis and the Hanbalis in Aleppo arrived, together with the city’s preacher, Shaykh Shihab al-Din al-Adhra‘i, Shaykh Zayn al-Din al-Barini, and others. They lodged in the Iqbaliyah Madrasa, for they—along with their Shafi‘i chief judge, Kamal al-Din al-Misri—had been summoned to Egypt. A written deposition was drawn up of what they reported about their judge and the accusations they lodged against him for the reprehensible conduct, as they claimed, that he had shown in the noble gatherings of Egypt. They set out for Egypt on Saturday the tenth.

On Thursday, Emir Zayn al-Din Zibalah, deputy of the Citadel, arrived by fast courier from Egypt in imposing splendor. People met him along the road with candles. He took up residence in the Dar al-Dhahab, and crowds came to greet him and congratulate him on resuming the deputyship of the Citadel—his customary post. This was the third time he had been appointed to it, for his administration there was praiseworthy and he had rendered notable service on several occasions.

On Thursday the twenty-first, the viceroy, the Shafi‘i and Hanafi judges, the kātib al-sirr, and a number of emirs and notables performed the prayer in the maqṣūrah. At the royal dais the Sultan’s decree was read aloud, reducing the sheep tax to two dirhams per head. Prayers for the ruler—and for whoever had been instrumental in achieving this—multiplied.

A marvel of marvels and a wonder of wonders

During this month the waters swelled and the rivers rose to an extraordinary degree. The Barada overflowed into the Horse Market until it covered the entire open square known as Mawqif al-Markab. Boats and rafts plied its surface, and pedestrians crossed from one side to the other aboard them. This situation persisted for several consecutive Fridays. The viceroy and the troops refrained from taking their usual station there, and on some days the viceroy stood beneath the balcony opposite the gate of the Royal Stables. Never before had such a thing been witnessed, nor have I ever seen its like in all my life. Many buildings and houses collapsed as a result, and numerous mills were put out of operation after being submerged.

On the night of Tuesday, the twentieth of Jumada al-Awwal, the sadr Shams al-Din ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Shaykh ʿIzz al-Din ibn al-Munajja al-Tanukhi passed away after the final ʿIshaʾ prayer. The funeral prayer was held for him in the Great Mosque of Damascus after the Zuhr prayer, and he was buried at the foot of the mountain.

And on the morning of that same day there died