Madrasā al-Farruẖšāhīyyā, called after ʿIzz ad-Dīn Farruẖšāh (1), was founded as a waqf by his mother, Ḥaẓẓ al-H̱ayr H̱ātūn, daughter of Ibrāhīm, son of ʿAbdallah; he died in 578 (2) and was buried in his madrasā at the upper Šaraf, in his qubbā. At its side is the ʾAmǧadīyyā (an-Nuʿaīmī).
Madrasa al-ʾAmǧadīyyā, at the upper Šaraf, was built by al-Malik al-Muẓaffar Nūr ad-Dīn ʿUmar at the time when his father, al-Malik al-ʾAmǧad Bahrāmšāh, son of Farruẖšāh, son of Šāhanšāh, son of ʾAyyūb, was murdered at Dār as-Saʿādā (3). (an-Nuʿaīmī).
The foundation inscription is carved on the monolithic lintel in a tabula ansata located on the lintel over the window on the eastern façade (4); it reads as follows:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم أمر بإنشاء هذه التربة المباركة
الفقير إلى رحمة الله تعالى برسم ولدها الملك المنصور
معزّ الدنيا والدين فرّخشاه بن شاهنشاه بن أيّوب الملكي
الناصري توفّى مستهلّ جمادى الآخر سنة تسع وسبعين وخمسمائة
In the name of Allah, the merciful and the compassionate. The humble lady has ordered to found this blessed turbā
for her son Al-Malik al-Manṣūr
Muʿizz ad-Dīn waʾl-Dunyā Farruẖšāh, son of Šāhanšāh, son of ʾAyyūb al-Malakī
an-Nāṣirī; he died on the first of Ǧumādā II 579 (5).
The inscription identifies Farruẖšāh's mother as the founder of the mausoleum without naming her, calls the prince Muʿizz ad-Dīn instead of ʿIzz ad-Dīn, and indicates the year of his death as 579, not 578. The narrative therefore slightly deviates from the inscription for some reason.
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1. Son of Šāhanšāh, son of ʾAyyūb.
2. 578 AH 2 = 182-1183 CE.
3. “House of Felicity." Al-ʾAmǧad was murdered by one of his slaves in 1230-1231 CE.
4. Four lines, 90 by 30 cm., in small letters.
5. Corresponding to September 21, 1183.
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Ernst Herzfeld. Damascus, Studies in Architecture III. Ars Islamica XI-XII 1946 (p. 1-71).
Terry Allen. Ayyubid Architecture. Solipsist Press, Occidental, California, 1999.
Jean Sauvaget. Les monuments ayyoubides de Damas
