Al-ʿAllāma Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Shaykh Imām Zayn al-Dīn ʿUmar b. Makkī b. ʿAbd al-Ṣamad. He was the imam of the Muslims, their mufti, and the shaykh of the Shāfiʿīs of his time. He was known by the names Ibn Marḥal and Ibn Wakil. In his era, he became famous for his virtue, pursuit of knowledge, study, and his mastery of various sciences. He was very well-versed in his school of law, as well as the Book and the sunnah. However, he was not as strong in grammar (nahw); he made many mistakes related to grammar.
Nevertheless, he had also studied al-Zamakhsharī’s "al-Mufaṣṣal." Yet, even so, he continued to make grammatical errors. He had memorized many works. He was born in the month of Shawwāl in the year 665 of the Hijra. He listened to hadith from many scholars. For example, he heard the "Musnad" of Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal from Ibn ʿAllān. He also listened to the Kutub al-Sitta. At the Dār al-Ḥadīth, by the order of Amīr Erbilī, Amīrī, and Mizzi, he recited a large portion of "Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim" to the public. He would speak about hadith based on knowledge he had distilled from many sciences. He had learned much from medicine, philosophy, kalām (theology), and the ancient sciences (ʿulūm al-awāʾil). He was especially knowledgeable about the ancient sciences. He composed beautiful poetry. He had a voluminous dīwān encompassing refined things. He had friends who loved and envied him, and others who were angry with him and jealous. They would speak against him, accusing him of committing major sins. He himself was a person who went to excess against his own nafs (the lower self), committed sins, cast aside shame, and perpetrated filth and obscenities. He was an enemy of Ibn Taymiyya. He debated with him in many gatherings. He would admit and praise that Ibn Taymiyya possessed dazzling knowledge, yet he remained his enemy. Nevertheless, he would also defend Ibn Taymiyya’s school, conduct, ideas, and supporters. Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyya, for his part, would praise his knowledge and virtues, and would testify to his being a Muslim. When his ugly deeds and actions were mentioned, he would say:
"His mind is confused and he has followed the desire of Satan. He inclines toward lusts."
Yet, Sadr b. Wakil was not among those who would slander Ibn Taymiyya or utter vile words about him. He taught at several madrasas in Egypt and Syria. In Damascus, he taught at the Shāmiyya al-Barrāniyya, Shāmiyya al-Jawwāniyya, Azrāwiyya madrasas, and at the Ashrafiyya Dār al-Ḥadīth. For a time, he briefly served as a preacher. Then the people rose up against him and he was dismissed before he could ascend the pulpit. Afterwards, he began to associate with the deputy sultan, Afram, and engaged in disgraceful acts that cannot be described here. Then he was transferred from Damascus to Aleppo, for he had won the favor of the deputy of Aleppo. He remained there and taught. Later, he acted as an envoy between the sultan and Muhannā, together with Ergūn and Tanbūgha. Eventually, he settled in Egypt. There, until his death in his own home on Wednesday morning, the twenty-fourth of Dhū al-Ḥijja of this year, he taught at the Mashhad al-Ḥusayn. His house was near the mosque. On the same day, he was buried near Shaykh Muḥammad b. Abī Ḥamza, who was interred in the mausoleum of the army inspector woman at Qurāfa. When news of his death reached Damascus on the third of Muḥarram of the following year, an absentee funeral prayer was performed for him at the Umayyad Mosque after Friday prayers. Among those who composed elegies for him were Ibn Ghānim ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn, Kačkāzī, and Ṣafī al-Dīn. These mentioned were his companions.