At the beginning of this year, the rulers of the Islamic lands were the same individuals whose names were mentioned in the previous year. Ibn Taymiyya was also being held as a prisoner in the Citadel of the Mountain in Egypt.
At the beginning of the month of Muḥarram, Sultan Malik Nāṣir became angry with Emir Ibn Salar and Jašnī-gīr. He refused to meet with the ʿAllāma. He locked the gates of the citadel. He took fortification measures there. These two emirs also shut themselves up in their homes. A group from among the emirs gathered around them. The citadel was besieged, and great events took place. The marketplace was locked. Then they communicated with the sultan. Matters were resolved. The smoke of hatred and fire in the hearts calmed down. The aforementioned two emirs grew stronger. They became even more powerful than before. The sultan held an official parade and a peace treaty was concluded.
In the month of Muḥarram, a battle took place between the Tatars and the people of Gīlān. The situation was as follows: The Tatar khan requested from the people of Gīlān that they allow his soldiers passage through their lands. The people of Gīlān did not agree to this. Thereupon, the Tatar khan sent against them a great army of 60,000 warriors at Harbenda. Of this army of 60,000, 40,000 were under the command of Qutlu Shāh, and 20,000 under the command of Choban. They entered the land of the people of Gīlān. The people of Gīlān turned a blind eye until they reached the middle of their country. Then they caught them at the strait of the sea. They threw naphtha upon them. Many drowned and perished in the water. Others burned. The people of Gīlān themselves killed a great number of them with their own hands. Almost none of the Tatars escaped, except for a few. Among those killed was the great emir of the Tatars, Qutlu Shāh. Because of this, the khan of Harbenda became extremely angry with the people of Gīlān. However, he was pleased at the killing of Qutlu Shāh, for Qutlu Shāh himself had intended to kill the khan of Harbenda. Thus, Harbenda was saved. Later, Bolay was also killed. Then the Tatar khan sent Shaykh Burāq, whose name was mentioned on previous pages, as an envoy to the people of Gīlān. He was to deliver a message to them. They killed him and relieved the people from him. Their lands were among the most fortified and among the best locations. It was not easy to reach there. The people of Gīlān were adherents of the sunnah (ahl al-sunnah). Many of them belonged to the Ḥanbalī school. It was not possible for an innovator (bidʿa) to find refuge among them.
On Friday, the fourteenth of the month of Ṣafar, the Chief Judge Badr al-Dīn ibn Jamāʿa met with Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn Ibn Taymiyya in the residence of Awḥadī in the Citadel. They spoke at length. They parted before the prayer. Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn Ibn Taymiyya was firmly resolved to leave the prison. On Friday, the twenty-third of Rabīʿ al-Awwal, Emir Ḥusām al-Dīn Muhannā ibn ʿĪsā personally came to the prison in the citadel and made Ibn Taymiyya swear an oath that he must leave the prison. When Ibn Taymiyya left the prison, he also made him swear to come with him to the house of Emir Saiar. Eventually, they went to the residence of Emir Saiar. There, some jurists met with Ibn Taymiyya. Many discussions took place among them. They engaged in debates. Then they parted to go to the prayer. After the prayer, they continued their discussions until evening. Ibn Taymiyya spent the night at the residence of Emir Salar.
Then, by order of the sultan, they spent Sunday as well in debate until evening. None of the judges came there. However, many jurists attended. More jurists gathered there on Sunday than on other days. Among the jurists who attended the meeting were Najm al-Dīn ibn Rafʿ, ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn al-Tājī, Fakhr al-Dīn ibn bint Abī Saʿd, ʿIzz al-Dīn al-Namrawī, Shams al-Dīn ibn ʿAdnān, and other jurists as well. The judges were also requested to attend the meeting. But they put forward various excuses and did not come. Some said they were ill. Others gave different excuses. For they knew that Ibn Taymiyya spoke with great knowledge and evidence, and that none of those who attended could stand against him. The deputy of the sultan accepted their excuses. Although it was the sultan’s order that they attend the meeting, he did not compel them to attend.
They were either to attend the meeting or to bring the session to a good end. Ibn Taymiyya spent the night with the deputy of the sultan. Emir Ḥusām al-Dīn Muhannā came there and asked Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn Ibn Taymiyya to come with him to Damascus. Emir Salar recommended that Ibn Taymiyya remain in Egypt so that people could witness his virtue and knowledge, benefit from him, and study knowledge with him. Ibn Taymiyya also wrote a letter describing the events that had befallen him and sent it to Damascus. Al-Barzalī said: In the month of Shawwāl of this year, the Sufis in Cairo complained about Ibn Taymiyya to the state, stating that he criticized Ibn ʿArabī and other people. The Shāfiʿī judge was appointed to resolve this matter. The Shāfiʿī judge organized a session for this purpose. Ibn ʿAṭā made some accusations against Ibn Taymiyya, but he could not prove these claims.
Ibn Taymiyya only said:
"No help is to be sought from anyone other than Allah. In the full sense of the word, even from the Prophet, help is not to be sought, but the Prophet may be made an intermediary when asking Allah for something, and through him, something may be requested from Allah. Intercession is beneficial."
One of those present said, "He has no evidence on this matter." Judge Badr al-Dīn ibn Jamāʿa, in response to this man’s statement, said, "In these statements, Ibn Taymiyya only lacks proper etiquette." A treatise was given to the judge for necessary action. Regarding this treatise, it was requested that the judge implement the command of the sharia (sharia). The judge said, "In such situations, I have said to Ibn Taymiyya whatever needs to be said." After this, the state gave Ibn Taymiyya the choice to go either to Damascus or Alexandria. However, certain conditions were also stipulated for this. They said that if he did not accept these conditions, he would be imprisoned. Ibn Taymiyya preferred to return to prison. However, at that time, a group came to him and asked him to fulfill the conditions and come to Damascus. In order not to offend his friends, he preferred to go to Damascus and accept the stipulated conditions.
On the night of the eighteenth of Shawwāl, he mounted a postal horse and set out. The authorities sent another messenger after him the next morning. They brought him back. They brought him to Chief Judge Badr al-Dīn ibn Jamāʿa and a group of jurists. One of those present at the meeting said to him, "The state does not permit you to depart on a journey. It insists that you must be imprisoned." The judge also said, "There is benefit in this for you as well." The Chief Judge appointed the Mālikī judge Shams al-Dīn al-Tūnisī as his deputy and asked him to pronounce the sentence of imprisonment for Ibn Taymiyya. Judge Shams al-Dīn refused this, insisting, "No crime has been proven against Ibn Taymiyya..." Thereupon, Chief Judge Badr al-Dīn ibn Jamāʿa assigned the Mālikī judge Nūr al-Dīn al-Zawwāwī to this matter. He was bewildered and did not know what to do. When Ibn Taymiyya saw that they were hesitating to imprison him, he said, "I will go to prison myself and will comply with whatever is in my best interest."
Nūr al-Dīn al-Zawwāwī al-Mālikī said: "In that case, you will be held in a place suitable for people like you." When it was said to Nūr al-Dīn, "The state will only be satisfied if he is placed in the place known as the prison," he paid no heed and sent Ibn Taymiyya to the judges’ prison, where Taqiyy al-Dīn bint al-Aʿazz was serving her sentence, and allowed a servant to be placed with him. All this was done on the advice of Nāṣir al-Munbijī, who was influential in the state. For Nāṣir al-Munbijī had later gained complete control over the mind of Jašnīgir, who subsequently ruled, and had authority over the other state officials as well. The sultan could not act contrary to his wishes. Eventually, Ibn Taymiyya was put in prison. He continued to issue fatwas in prison. People would come to visit him. Difficult fatwas that the leading jurists, emirs, and notables could not resolve were also brought to him, and solutions were sought from him.
He would write his fatwas, supported by evidence from the Book and the sunnah (sunnah), to a degree that would astonish minds. After all this, a session was organized for Ibn Taymiyya in Ṣāliḥiyya. Shaykh Ibn Taymiyya was hosted in the house of Ibn Shuqayr in Cairo. People would come to him day and night, almost overwhelming him.
On the sixth of Rajab of this year, Shaykh Kamāl al-Dīn ibn Zamlekānī was appointed as the superintendent of the hospitals’ council in place of the deceased Yūsuf al-ʿAjamī. He had previously served as muḥtasib (market inspector) in Damascus for a while. Six months earlier, he had handed over the aforementioned duty to Najm al-Dīn ibn Baṣrawiyya. Yūsuf al-
ʿAjamī was a trustworthy person.
On the night of the fifteenth of Shaʿbān of this year, the prayer of the night of barāʾa (barāʾa night prayer) was cancelled because it was a bidʿa (innovation). The noise and commotion in the Umayyad Mosque ceased. The mosque was protected. Thus, many benefits were obtained. Praise and gratitude are due to Allah.
In the month of Ramaḍān, al-Ṣadr Najm al-Dīn al-Baṣrawī came to Damascus, and he brought with him a decree appointing him, in addition to his duty as muḥtasib, as treasurer in place of Shams al-Dīn Khāṭirī. At the end of Ramaḍān, heavy rains fell. People had been without rain for some time, so they were very pleased with this. Prices dropped. Because of the intensity of the rains, people were unable to go to the musallā (prayer ground). They performed the Eid prayer in the mosque. The deputy of the sultan also came to the Eid prayer and performed the prayer in his private place. The amir of the pilgrimage (ḥajj) that year was Sayf al-Dīn Balabān al-Badrī al-Tatarī.
In this year, Judge Sharaf al-Dīn al-Bārizī went on pilgrimage from Ḥamā.
In the month of Dhū al-Ḥijja, a great fire broke out near al-Ẓāhiriyya. The starting point of this fire was the Uṭiyya bakery opposite al-Ẓāhiriyya. Then Allah, the Exalted, bestowed His grace. The sparks of the fire subsided. Its evil came to an end.
I say: In this year, after the death of my father, we came from Buṣrā to Damascus. For the first time, we settled in the Derb al-Sūʿūr, known as the road of Ibn Abī Hayjāʾ, adjacent to the old goldsmiths’ market near al-Ṭuriyyīn. We ask Allah, the Exalted, for a good end and outcome. Amīn.