On the night of Monday, the twenty-second of Muharram in the year 763 AH, I saw the late Shaykh Muḥyiddīn al-Nawawī in a dream. I asked him, "O my master! Why did you not include some parts of Ibn Ḥazm's musannaf (classified) works in your commentary Muḥazzab?" He uttered some words expressing his dislike of Ibn Ḥazm. I said to him, "You are right in this matter. He has brought together the extremes of two opposites in both uṣūl (principles) and furūʿ (branches). In the furūʿ he is a very dry Ẓāhirī, while in the uṣūl he is fluid and flowing like the Karmatians, that is, very elastic." As I spoke thus, I raised my voice so much that I heard it even while asleep. Then I showed him a green place resembling a date palm grove, though not as beautiful in form as a date palm grove, a place neither suitable for producing crops nor for grazing livestock, and said, "This is the place that Ibn Ḥazm cultivates." He asked, "Look carefully, do you see there a fruit-bearing tree or a useful crop?" I replied, "By the moonlight, it is a place suitable for sitting." That was the dream I saw. Then, as far as I remember, while I was still dreaming, when I showed that place belonging to Ibn Ḥazm to Shaykh Muḥyiddīn al-Nawawī, Ibn Ḥazm was also sitting there, but he was silent and not spoken to.
On Thursday, the twenty-third of Ṣafar, Qāḍī Imād al-Dīn b. Shayrajī was bestowed the robe of honor upon his return to the office of muḥtasib (market inspector). Because ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn al-Anṣārī was ill and could not perform the duties of muḥtasib, this office was given to Qāḍī Imād al-Dīn. People went to congratulate Qāḍī Imād al-Dīn as was customary.
On Saturday, the twenty-eighth of Ṣafar, Shaykh ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn al-Anṣārī passed away at the ʿAmīniyya Madrasa. The funeral prayer was performed after the ẓuhr prayer at the Umayyad Mosque, and he was buried in the tomb behind the miḥrāb of the Jarrah Mosque in the Bab al-Ṣaghīr Cemetery. He was over forty years old at his death. He had taught at the ʿAmīniyya Madrasa and served twice as muḥtasib. He left behind young children and a large amount of wealth. May Allah forgive him and cover him with His mercy. After his death, by the sultan's decree, Qāḍī al-Quḍāt Ṭāj al-Dīn b. Subkī was appointed in his place.
After the twentieth of Ṣafar, Qāḍī al-Quḍāt Mālikī al-Ahnāʾī died in Egypt. His brother Burhān al-Dīn b. Qāḍī al-Quḍāt ʿAlam al-Dīn al-Ahnāʾī was appointed in his place. Their father was Shāfiʿī. Burhān al-Dīn, Qāḍī al-Quḍāt, had also properly fulfilled the duties of muḥtasib in Egypt. In addition to the office of Mālikī Qāḍī al-Quḍāt, he was given the post of treasurer. On Sunday morning, the fourth of Rabīʿ al-Awwal, Qāḍī al-Quḍāt Ṭāj al-Dīn Abū Naṣr ʿAbd al-Waḥḥāb b. Qāḍī al-Quḍāt Taqī al-Dīn b. Ḥasan b. ʿAbd al-Kāfī al-Subkī al-Shāfiʿī began teaching at the ʿAmīniyya Madrasa in place of the deceased muḥtasib Shaykh ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn. May Allah have mercy on him.
At the lesson of Qāḍī al-Quḍāt Ṭāj al-Dīn Abū Naṣr, scholars, emirs, jurists, and some from the common folk were present as listeners. It was a magnificent lesson. The following verse was discussed:
"Or do they envy people for what Allah has given them of His bounty?" (an-Nisāʾ 4:54).
He derived beautiful rulings from the verse and gave examples from various sciences. While speaking, his tongue did not slip, he did not stumble, nor did he strain himself; he used beneficial and beautiful expressions. Everyone present at the lesson praised him. Indeed, some elders said they had never heard such a beautiful lesson until then.
On Monday, the twenty-fifth of Rabīʿ al-Awwal, Ṣadr Burhān al-Dīn b. Lūlūʾ al-Ḥawzī died in his house in the Kassāʾīn district. He had been ill for only one day. The funeral prayer was performed the next day after ẓuhr at the Damascus Mosque. They took him out from Bab al-Naṣr to outside the city; the deputy of the sultan, ʿAmīr ʿAlī, accompanied the funeral. They took him to Bab al-Ṣaghīr Cemetery and buried him beside his father's grave. He was a man of generosity, moved with the people, respected by the state, accepted with good will by the sultan's deputy and others, loved scholars and righteous people, and continued to attend hadith lessons and beneficial talks. He was wealthy and had done good deeds. He was approaching eighty years old at his death. May Allah have mercy on him. A courier from Egypt to Damascus reported that Shaykh Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Naqqāsh al-Miṣrī had died in Egypt in his forties. This man was a famous preacher, skilled and eloquent writer, both a grammarian and a poet. He was an authority in various sciences. He had the ability to use proper sentences and freely entered and exited the state officials. He had acquired great wealth. May Allah have mercy on him.
Among the news brought by the courier was the death of Qāḍī al-Quḍāt Sharaf al-Dīn al-Mālikī al-Baghdādī, who had once served as Mālikī judge in Damascus and was later removed from that post and appointed treasurer in Egypt. When he was appointed treasurer in Egypt, he was granted a salary sufficient and more than enough. Everyone rejoiced greatly at his appointment.
On Sunday, the seventeenth of Rabīʿ al-Ākhir, Raʾīs ʿImān al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Ṣadr Jamāl al-Dīn Aḥmad b. Raʾīs Sharaf al-Dīn Muḥammad b. al-Khalanīsī died. He was one of the surviving raʾīs (notables) and elders of the city of Damascus. Like his father and uncle ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn, he had held many great offices. He surpassed his predecessors, served for a time as qāḍī ʿasker (military judge), and carried out the office of Bayt al-Māl (treasury) deputy. Later, alongside teaching at the Shaykh al-Shuyūkh, Nāṣiriyya, and Shāmiyya al-Jawwāniyya madrasas, he was also appointed as the scribe of secrets. For thirty-six years he had taught at the ʿAṣrāniyya Madrasa. Last year, when the sultan came to Damascus, he dismissed him from his great offices and imposed a fine of 200,000 dirhams, which he paid by selling much of his property. He was left with no office. After that day, he lived a life withdrawn from society and died suddenly.
He had lost his mental balance somewhat, but no one noticed. After the ʿaṣr prayer, the funeral prayer was performed at the Damascus Mosque, and he was taken out from Bab al-Naṭīfānī and buried in the family cemetery on Qasyūn. May Allah have mercy on him. On Monday, the eighteenth of Rabīʿ al-Ākhir, in the morning, Qāḍī Jamāl al-Dīn b. Qāḍī al-Quḍāt Sharaf al-Dīn al-Kūfrī al-Ḥanafī was bestowed the robe of honor. He was made joint in the qāḍīship with his father. The sultan's decree granting him the title of Qāḍī al-Quḍāt also arrived in Damascus by post. Upon this, he donned the robe of honor at the Dār al-Saʿāda Palace. Accompanied by Qāḍī al-Quḍāt Ṭāj al-Dīn al-Subkī, he went to the Nūrīyya Madrasa, sat in the mujtahid's seat, where the Qurʾān was recited, and he himself also recited the Qurʾān. However, this was not a dars (lesson). People came to congratulate him on being given the office together with his father.
On Tuesday morning, the shaykh, worshipper, nāṣik (one who is devoted to worship), righteous, great scholar Fath al-Dīn b. Shaykh Zayn al-Dīn al-Fārūqī passed away. This man was the imam of the Ashrafiyya Dār al-Ḥadīth, the protector of its works, and the muezzin of the Umayyad Mosque. He was approaching ninety years of age. He spent his life doing good, reading the Qurʾān, praying, and being among people. His funeral prayer was performed on the same morning, and he was taken out from Bab al-Naṣr and buried in the Ṣāliḥiyya district. May Allah have mercy on him.
On Monday morning, the tenth of Jumādā al-Awwal, the courier under the administration of the deputy of Damascus, Karābūghā Dawaddār al-Ṣaghīr, arrived in Damascus. He brought with him the decree appointing Shaykh Jamāl al-Dīn Yūsuf b. Qāḍī al-Quḍāt Sharaf al-Dīn al-Kūfrī to the office of Ḥanafī Qāḍī al-Quḍāt due to his father's retirement. For this reason, Shaykh Jamāl al-Dīn donned the robe of honor at the Dār al-Saʿāda Palace and was seated below the Mālikī qāḍī. Then they all went together to the mahfil (gallery) of the Umayyad Mosque. The appointment decree was read there by the deputy muḥtasib Shams al-Dīn b. Subkī. He also appointed his friends Shams al-Dīn b. Manṣūr and Badr al-Dīn b. Ḥarrāsh as his deputy qāḍīs. Then, together with the Mālikī qāḍī, he went to the Nūrīyya Madrasa and taught there. His father was unable to attend his lesson and the robe of honor ceremony where the appointment decree was read.