'Ala ad-Din al-Basir

ʿAlā ad-Dīn al-Baṣīr (, died 1294) was a mamluk who became an emir. He was a supervisor of Jerusalem's waqf charitable endowments () and inspector of the Two Noble Sanctuaries () of Jerusalem and Hebron.

He lived during the final years of the Ayyūbid dynasty (under aṣ-Ṣāliḥ) and the beginning of the Mamlūk dynasty (under Baybars and Qalāwūn).

Names

• Ê¿Alā ad-DÄ«n al-Baṣīr (): is a nickname that means "astute, insightful" (). The nickname also becomes () and / () in placenames.
• Ê¿Alā ad-DÄ«n AydughdÄ« ibn Ê¿Abdallāh aá¹£-á¹¢aliḥī an-NajmÄ« (): is a nisba (noun + ), meaning he was a mamluk of aá¹£-Ṣāliḥ Najm ad-DÄ«n, an AyyÅ«bid emir.
• Ê¿Alā ad-DÄ«n AydughdÄ« ar-RuknÄ« (): may refer to Baybars (), a MamlÅ«k sultan whom he served.

He is not to be confused with ʿAlā ad-Dīn Aydughdī ibn ʿAbdallāh al-Kubakī (al-Kabakī), buried in the Kubakiyya mausoleum in the Mamilla Cemetery.

Legacy

He was responsible for a number of building projects in Jerusalem. Some places in the city bear his name.

• (Ê¿Alā ad-DÄ«n al-Baṣīr Ribat) / al-BaṣīrÄ« Mosque, a ribat outside the Inspector's Gate. During its construction, he used his cane as a yardstick and found a measurement mistake that sighted people overlooked. It includes his tomb/shrine and homes to a community of Afro-Palestinians.
• Inspector's Gate (Ê¿Alā ad-DÄ«n al-Baṣīr Gate) was named after the ribat.
• : named after the ribat.
• (al-Baṣīr Sabil), a sebil (fountain) named after him.
• Ablution Gate and the Ablution Place west (outside) of the gate: restored by him.

He also built structures in Hebron:

• A bathhouse: He drew up its plan while he was blind.
• A storage installation () for wheat and barley.

References