In this year, Majdüddīn Abū Qāsim Ḥibatullāh b. Manṣūrī began his duties as the preacher of Baghdad and the Abbasid naqīb (head of the descendants of the Prophet). He was dressed in valuable robes. Majdüddīn was a virtuous man who associated with the poor and the ṣūfīs. For a while, he lived a life of asceticism. When he was invited to this position, he accepted quickly. The world turned to him with all its beauty and splendor. Turkish slaves served him. He wore garments characteristic of people living a life of luxury. Some of his students composed a long qaṣīda (panegyric poem) together, reproaching him for these behaviors. Ibn Saʿī transmitted this qaṣīda at length in his history.
In this year, Qāḍī Muḥyiddīn Yūsuf b. Shaykh Jamāl al-Dīn Abū'l-Faraǧ went as the caliph's envoy to the ruler of Egypt, Kāmil. He carried with him a magnificent letter stating that the caliph had appointed him to the governance of Egypt. This letter contained many commands. The letter was written by the vizier Nasr al-Dīn Ahnīʿad b. Nāqid. Ibn Saʿī also transmitted this letter as it was in his history.
Kāmil had established a military camp outside Amid (Diyarbakır), which belonged to al-Jazīra. He was rejoicing because of his possession of this place.
In this year, the Baghdad soup kitchen established to provide food for pilgrims returning from Ḥajj was inaugurated. The arriving pilgrims were given allowances, clothing, and gifts.
In this year, the soldiers of Caliph al-Mustanṣir, under the command of Emir Sayf al-Dīn Abū'l-Faẓāʾil Iqbāl al-Ḥās al-Mustanṣirī, went to ʿArbīl and its districts. The governor of ʿArbīl, Muẓaffar al-Dīn Gökböri b. Zayn al-Dīn, had fallen ill, and there was no one to govern this land after him. When the caliph al-Mustanṣir's soldiers under Emir Sayf al-Dīn Iqbāl arrived at ʿArbīl, they besieged the city. However, the people of the city prevented them from entering. Finally, on the seventeenth of Shawwāl, they conquered the city by force. When the news of the conquest reached Baghdad, drums of joy were played. The populace rejoiced greatly. The governorship of ʿArbīl was given to Emir Sayf al-Dīn Iqbāl. A decree was written to this effect. Emir Iqbāl also appointed new officials to the official posts in ʿArbīl. He treated the people well. Poets praised this conquest. Indeed, it was a conquest worthy of praise. They also praised the conqueror Iqbāl. The best of these praises was as follows:
"O seventeenth day of Shawwāl,
At first and at last, you were blessed with felicity.
May the conquest of ʿArbīl be blessed on this day.
Also blessed be this day on which Iqbāl sat upon the vizierate."
Vizier Nusair al-Dīn b. Alqamī had also become vizier on a similar day the previous year.
At the beginning of this year’s Ramaḍān, repairs began on the Ashrafiyya dār al-ḥadīth (house of ḥadīth) in Damascus. This had previously been the house of Emir Kaymaz. It contained a bathhouse, which was demolished. In its place, a dār al-ḥadīth was constructed.
According to what Sibt narrated, the opening of the Ashrafiyya dār al-ḥadīth adjacent to the citadel of Damascus took place on a night in the middle of Shaʿbān this year. There, Shaykh Taqiyy al-Dīn b. Ṣalāḥ had ḥadīth written down. Ashraf had established endowments for the administration of this place, and the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) shoes were also placed there. This year, Ashraf listened to Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī from Zabidi.
Similarly, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī was also listened to in the dār al-ḥadīth and in Ṣāliḥiyya.
In this year, Kāmil conquered Amid (Diyarbakır) and Ḥiṣn Kayfā (Hasankeyf). He saw that 500 free women were taken to bed by the emir of Hasankeyf. For this reason, Ashraf subjected him to very painful tortures.
In this year, the governor of Mardin, together with the Rum soldiers and the army of al-Jazīra, oppressed the people. They killed men and took captives. They committed atrocities against the Muslims that even the Tatars did not commit.