Sayf ad-Dīn ʿAlī bin Qliǧ an-Nūrī

 

I read on the lintel of a window of the building which I believe to be at-Turbā al-Qliǧīyyā: 

قال الأمير الكبير المجاهد المرابط الاسفهسلار السعيد الشهيد سيف الدين أبو الحسن علي ابن قلج ابن عبد الله رحمه الله تعالى هذه الأبيات وأوصى أن تكتب على تربته بعد وفاته

“The great emir, fighter of the Holy War, warrior, isfahsalār, of blessed memory, martyr, Sayf al-Dīn abu al-Ḥasan ʿAlī bin Qliǧ bin ʿAbdallah — Allah the Exalted have mercy upon him! — said these verses and willed that they should be written on his tomb after his death".

On another lintel: 

هذه دارنا التي نحن فيها                    دار حقّ وما سواها يزول

فاعتمر ما استطعت داراً إليها             عن قليل يفضي بك التحويل

واعتمد صالحاً يؤانسك فيها                مثلما يؤنس الخليل الخليل

"This, our house in which we live, is the true house, and yet it shall perish. So build while you can a house into which you will be transferred before long, and practice the good that it may accompany you as a friend keeps company to his friend!"

Ernst Herzfeld. Damascus, Studies in Architecture III. Ars Islamica XI-XII 1946 (p. 1-71).

Sauvaire, Description de Damas (pp. 275-277 & 315-316). 

Photo credit: Terry Allen: Ayyubid Architecture