that he had seen the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—standing beside a mulberry tree near Masjid Dirar ⦗1⦘ outside Bab Sharqi. The women immediately hurried to perfume ⦗2⦘ that tree and gathered its leaves, seeking a cure for the plague. Yet no proof ever surfaced to confirm the dream, nor is its narration reliable.
On Friday, the 7th of Dhu’l-Qaʿdah, Chief Judge Tāj al-Dīn al-Subkī delivered an eloquent and fluent sermon in the Umayyad Mosque, presenting it with excellent delivery. A group of commoners had previously been prone to create disturbances, but on this occasion none of them spoke; instead, they raised approving cries during the exhortation and at other points. They were impressed by the preacher—his sermon, his performance, his clarity, and the dignity he commanded—and he continued thereafter to preach in person.
On Tuesday, the 18th, al-Ṣāḥib Taqī al-Dīn Sulaymān ⦗3⦘ ibn Marājil, supervisor of the Umayyad Mosque and other endowments, passed away. He had overseen the mosque during Tankiz’s tenure; he rebuilt the western side of its southern wall, completed all its marble facing, opened a mihrab for the Hanafis in that wall and another, farther west, for the Hanbalis, and carried out many other improvements. Energetic and ambitious, he was known for integrity, firmness, and praiseworthy hands-on administration. He was buried in a tomb he had built opposite his house in al-Qubaybāt—may Allah have mercy on him—having lived beyond eighty years.
On Wednesday, the 19th, Shaykh Bahāʾ al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ⦗4⦘ al-Ikhmīmī al-Miṣrī, imam of Masjid Darb al-Ḥajaz ⦗5⦘, died. The funeral prayer was held for him after ʿAṣr in the Umayyad Mosque, and he was buried in the Zāwiyah of Ibn al-Sarrāj ⦗6⦘ near the bird-sellers’ market ⦗7⦘, in a corner maintained by some indigent custodians there. Skilled in the principles of jurisprudence, he authored a treatise on the letter lām ⦗8⦘ that contained both acceptable and questionable material. And that concludes his account.
The Arrival of the Deputy of the Sultanate, Manqli Bughā
On Thursday, the 27th of Dhu’l-Qaʿdah, the deputy of the Sultanate, Manqli Bughā, entered Damascus from Aleppo.