Arabic

Place

Time

Language

Disease

Animal

Keyword

Person

Nature event

River

Plague

Scribe

Social response

Victims

In Arabic, a total of 34 epidemic events are known so far.

Events

	Date	Summary		Source	Translation	T

1178 – 1179

Epidemic (wabāʾ) in Syria in the year 574 H (June 19, 1178 to June 8, 1179). It had been preceeded by inflation.

وفيها، كان بالبلاد غلاء عام وتبعه وباء عام

In this year (1178/1179), the country had a general shortage, followed by a general epidemic. (Translation: Thomas Wozniak)

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1216, November 28

In a letter a lethal disease in Egypt is mentioned, dated November 28, 1216.

אלמהדב אלמתסוק מן מצר... חואיג עטר ארגוה וצולהא אלינא פתעלמני בדלך לאן קלבי משגול מן דלך ומא כתבת הדה אלכדמה אלא ואנא מריץ ולא תסאל מא אלנאס פיה מן שדה אלאמראץ ואלמות אלעאם אללה ירחם ישראל ויעצור הנגף והדבר ברחמיו הרבים אמן סרעה סרעה תעלמני בוצולהא ליטמאן קלבי בעד תקביל מואטי אקדאמהא אצחאבנא גמיעהם מכתומין(?) באלסלאם... ומהמא כאן ללמולא מן כדמה או חאגה שרף אלכאדם בהא אללה יגמע אלשמל ען קריב ושלומך יגדל ואל ידל נצח סלה אלסאדס ואלעשרין מן כסליו קכח לשטרות

In a letter that has survived as a fragment, a member of one of Egypt’s Jewish communities informs the addressee that a lethal disease (Arab. amrāḍ, Hebr. negef, dever) has affected an unnamed place in Egypt. The letter is dated November 28, 1216 (Kislev 16, 1528 Seleucid era). (Translation: Undine Ott)

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1217, March

The fragment of a letter mentions a great epidemic (al-wabāʾ al-ʿaẓīm) which has struck the different parts of Cairo and has affected the physician and head of the Jews in Egypt (nagid), Avraham Maimonides (d. 1237), and his daughter. The fragment bears no date, but see here.

recto: ואמא חאלנא פאן אלמולי אלרייס הנגיד יג יק[ אלאכבר מריץ פי שדה אללה יעאפיה ובנתה[ איצא והו גיר קאדר עלי מלאזמתה{א} אלא מלאזם ו[ט]אה טול אלאסבוע לא ינזל ליל ולא נהאר והו מן דלך פי שדה עטימה אללה יומן (=ימון) [אלעאפיה] ואמס וצלני ורקה מן צהרה רבנו חננאל הדיין הגדול דאם עזה והו יקול אן הדה אלאיאם מתל יום הדין כל שכץ משגול בנפסה verso: ואנמא עזימתנא וכליתנא עלי אלכלאץ מן הדא אלובא אלעטים אלדי מא פי מצר ואלקאהרה בית מן חשובי ישראל וגירהם אלא ופיה מריץ או מרצי ואלנאס פי שדה עטימה משאגיל אנפסהם ען בעצהם בעץ פכפי ען גריב

As to us, our lord, the Rayyis, the Nagid [may his] gl[ory be] in[creased], the chief [Rav] is seriously ill, may God heal him, and so is his daughter; he is unable to treat her, and confined to his bed; throughout the week he could not get up, neither at night, nor at daytime, which caused him great grief; may God grant him health. Yesterday, I received a note from his father-in-law, our master, Hananel, the chief justice, may his high position endure, saying: "These days are like the Last Judgment; everyone is occupied only with himself." We strive to save ourselves from the great plague. In Miṣr [Fustat] and Cairo, there is no house belonging to important persons and, in fact, to anyone else, where not one or several persons are ill. People are in great trouble, occupied with themselves and unable to care for others, let alone for strangers.

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1217, March

A letter mentions that a disease raged in Cairo, dated on March 17, 1217.

לקד כאן קלובנא ועיוננא מתטלעה אלי אללה סובחאנה ותעאלי באלציאם וגירה ואלדעא אן יפרג' ען ישראל מן אלדבר אלדי כאן ענדכם וכנא נדעו אלי אללה אלא יעדמנא גאה סיידנא ולא נט'רה לאן סיידנא אליום נר ישראל עלי אלחקיקה ולא ארתפע שאננא גמיעא אלא בסיידנא

A letter to Avraham Maimonides (d. 1237), the head of the Jews in Egypt (nagid), in Cairo, written by the teacher, cantor, and clerk Yehuda b. al-ʿAmmānī in Alexandria. Yehuda mentions that the Jewish community in Alexandria had been fasting and supplicating on behalf of the addressee's health and for God to lift the disease (Hebr. dever) that raged in Cairo and had afflicted Avraham, too. The letter is dated to the end of Adar 1528 Seleucid era (the month ended on March 17, 1217). (Translation: Undine Ott)

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1258

Epidemic in Baghdad after the Mongol conquest of the city: A Mongol army under Hülegü Khan had captured Baghdad and killed the Abbasid caliph al-Mustaʿṣim bi-llāh [February 20, 1258]. Dead bodies were lying around everywhere, a bad smell developed in the city, the air changed. Many people died of the severe epidemic (wabāʾ) that followed the fighting. When the epidemic abated in Baghdad it traveled to Syria.

'

(Translation needed)

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1258

Around the time when the Mongols took Baghdad, an epidemic (ṭāʿūn) affected the people in Syria. This was in 656 H (January 8, 1258 to December 27, 1258). The former Ayyubid sultan of Damascus, al-Nāṣir Dāwūd, died of the disease in al-Buwayḍāʾ [May 21, 1259], a village in the surroundings of Damascus. His cousin al-Nāṣir Yūsuf, the lord of Damascus, traveled to al-Buwayḍāʾ, transferred Dāwūd's body to al-Ṣāliḥiyya and buried it in the tomb of Dāwūd's father al-Malik al-Muʿaẓẓam.

ولحق الناس بالشام في تلك المدة طاعون مات فيه الناصر داود، وخرج الناصر يوسف صاحب دمشق إلى البويضاء، وأظهر عليه الحزن والتأسف، ونقله إلى الصالحية فدفنه بتربة والده المعظم

In that period, a plague struck the Levant, in which Al-Nasser David died, and Al-Nasser Yusuf of Damascus went to Al-Buwayda, showed grief and sorrow for him, and transferred him to Salhiyah, where he was buried in the soil of his great father. (Translation: DeepL)

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1300 – 1301 VN: 1003 cows

Epidemic disease (fanāʾ) in cattle in Egypt in 700 AH (Sept. 16, 1300-Sept. 4, 1301). A lot of cattle died. Subsequently, water wheels could not be operated anymore, draft animals were lacking in farming, and cattle prices hiked. Sugar cane could not be cultivated, thus sugar prices rose. (A marginal note in one manuscript adds: It was related that an elder [shaykh min ahl al-filāḥa] from Ushmūm [Ashmūn al-Rummān, in the Nile Delta] lost all but eight of his 1,011 Khaysiyya cows to the disease.)

(Translation needed)

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1300 – 1301

Epidemic disease (fanāʾ) in cattle, mainly in Egypt, in 700 AH (Sept. 16, 1300-Sept. 4, 1301). Cattle prices hiked. Subsequently, water wheels could not be operated with cattle anymore. Sugar cane could not be cultivated and sugar prices hiked.

(Translation needed)

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1300 – 1301 VN: 1003 cows

Epidemic disease (fanāʾ) in cattle in Egypt in 700 AH (Sept. 16, 1300-Sept. 4, 1301) that killed a great number of cows. It was related that the disease had killed 1,003 out of 1,021 Khaysiyya cows of an elder (shaykh) of Ushmūm-Ṭanāḥ (Ashmūn al-Rummān, in the Nile Delta). Cattle prices hiked and water wheels could not be operated with cattle anymore.

'

(Translation needed)

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1303, August – 1304, August

Horse epidemic (fanāʾ) in Syria in 703 AH (August 1303 - August 1304) which killed a majority of the Syrian horse population; the author who lived in Damascus during those days lost all of his horses (ten or more) to the illness; before the epidemic, horses in Syria had been abundant and easily available; due to the epidemic, horses became scarse and their price increased sixfold.

(Translation needed)

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{{Template:1303-08-15-Syriav

1309, June – 1310, May

Epidemic (wabāʾ) in Cairo and other parts of Egypt in 709 AH (June 11, 1309 - May 30, 1310). Many people died, most of them were mamluks of amirs.

(Translation needed)

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1310, January 4 – 1310, February 1 VN: 100 per day

Epidemic (wabāʾ) in Cairo in Shaʿbān 709 AH (January 4 - February 1, 1310). 100 people died per day.

(Translation needed)

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1323, summer – 1323, autumn

In the wake of a hot, black storm illnesses (amrāḍ) spread in Cairo in summer/autumn 723 AH (1323). For the period of a month, a number of people died. A similar storm had killed people in Damascus before, in Shaʿbān 723 AH (August 5 - September 2, 1323), and had made fruits wither and water run dry; Damascene wheat prices had subsequently gone up. In Cairo, the storm equally hampered grain crop growth, hence grain prices rose since little grain was available.

(Translation needed)

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1346, April – 1347, April VN: 1.000

In 747 H (April 24, 1346 to April 12, 1347), the Black Death spread in the Horde (bilād Uzbak), where many people died in villages as well as towns. Plague then arrived in Crimea where the maximum daily death toll amounted to ca. 1,000, as the author, Ibn al-Wardī, was told by a trustworthy merchant. Afterwards, plague spread to Asia Minor (Rūm) where it killed many people. An Aleppine merchant who had returned from Crimea reported to Ibn al-Wardī that the judge (qāḍī) of Crimea had said that they had counted the deceased and that the number had amounted to 85,000 known plague deaths. The plague reached Cyprus, too, and the death toll was enormously high there as well.

'

(Translation needed)

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1347 – 1349

The Black Death with presumed origins in China or Ethiopia, spreading to Syria and Egypt. Discussion of its spread via Caffa and Constantinopel, Genoa and reaching the Iberian Peninsula.

Die Meinungen über die Herkunft dieses Ereignisses gehen auseinander. Der Gewährsmann erwähnte nach dem Zeugnis mancher christlichen Kaufleute, die nach Almeriah kamen, daß die Krankheit in dem Lande Hata entstanden sei; Hata heißt in der persischen Sprache China, wie ich es von einem Gewährsmann aus Samarkand gelernt habe. China ist die Grenze der bewohnten Erde nach Osten zu. Die Seuche ist in China verbreitet und von da aus ist sie nach dem persischen Irak, den türkischen Ländern gewandert. Andere erwähnten nach dem Bericht christlicher Reisenden, daß sie in Abessinien entstanden sei und von dort aus in die Nachbarländer bis nach Ägypten und Syrien vorgedrungen sei. Diese verschiedenen Berichte beweisen, daß die Katastrophe allgemein alle Länder und Zonen heimgesucht hat. Der Grund der Verschiedenheit der Berichte ist, daß, wenn sie in einem an der (p. 42) Grenze der Erde liegenden Lande erscheint, dessen Einwohner denken, daß die Krankheit dort entstanden sei; und von dort aus verbreitet sich diese Ansicht. Es ist uns auch von vielen Seiten berichtet worden, daß sie in der genuesischen Festung Kaffa gewesen sei, die unlängst durch ein Heer von mohammedanischen Türken und Romäern belagert wurde, dann in Pera, dann in dem großen Konstantinopel, auf den Inseln von Armania an der Küste des Mittelmeeres, in Genua, in Frankreich. Sie griff weiter über nach dem fruchtbaren Andalusien, überschwemmte die Gegenden von Aragon, Barcelona, Valencia u. a., verbreitete sich in dem größten Teil des Königreichs Kastilien bis Sevilla im äußersten Westen, erreichte auch die Inseln des Mittelmeeres Sizilien, Sardinien, Mallorca, Ibiza, sprang über nach der gegenüberliegenden Küste von Afrika und ging von da aus weiter nach Westen.

Opinions differ as to the origin of this event. According to the testimony of some Christian merchants who came to Almeriah, the author mentioned that the disease originated in the land of Hata; Hata means China in the Persian language, as I learnt from an author from Samarkand. China is the border of the inhabited earth to the east. The disease spread in China and from there it travelled to Persian Iraq and the Turkish countries. Others mentioned, according to the report of Christian travellers, that it originated in Abyssinia and from there spread to neighbouring countries as far as Egypt and Syria. These different reports prove that the catastrophe affected all countries and zones in general. The reason for the diversity of reports is that when it appears in a country lying on the (p. 42) frontier of the earth, its inhabitants think that the disease originated there; and from there this opinion spreads. It has also been reported to us from many quarters that it was in the Genoese fortress of Kaffa, which was recently besieged by an army of Mohammedan Turks and Romæans, then in Pera, then in the great Constantinople, on the islands of Armania on the coast of the Mediterranean, in Genoa, in France. It spread further to fertile Andalusia, flooded the regions of Aragon, Barcelona, Valencia and others, spread through most of the kingdom of Castile as far as Seville in the far west, reached the Mediterranean islands of Sicily, Sardinia, Mallorca, Ibiza, jumped over to the opposite coast of Africa and from there continued westwards.. (Translation: Martin Bauch)

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1348, April

News about the Black Death (wabāʾ) in other countries kept reaching Damascus in early 749 H (the year starts in April 1348): Terrible things were told about Crimea where a great number of people had reportedly died. Afterwards the plague, it was told, was transmitted to the lands of the Franks. The majority of the inhabitants of Cyprus were said to have died from the plague.

(Translation needed)

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1348, April – 1349, March

The Black Death in Egypt and other countries in 749 H (April 1, 1348 to March 22, 1349): People were taken by surprise by the epidemic (wabāʾ) whose death toll was high. The odors of death met them. People died quickly of the disease after buboes had appeared at their earlobes (marrāq).

...

(Translation needed)

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1348, April – 1349, March 22 VN: 20.000 + 1000 + 500

From April 1, 1348 to March 22, 1349), an unprecedented plague hit the Middle East, and lasted about a year, and one third of Greater Syria’s and Egypt’s population died.

'

The Black Death in the Middle East: In the year 749 H (April 1, 1348 to March 22, 1349), an unprecedented wave of plague hit the Middle East. It was the sixth plague which affected the Middle East in the Islamic period. It was called the Kinship Plague (Ṭāʿūn al-Ansāb) since the decease of a person was often followed by the death of some of his or her relatives. People developed pustules, spat yellow blood and died within 50 hours. When people started spitting blood they would bid farewell to their friends, close their shops, their burial would be prepared, and they would die in their homes. The daily death toll reached a maximum of ca. 500 in Aleppo, more than 1,000 in Damascus, and ca. 20,000 in Egypt. Mostly women, youths, poor people, and riffraff died. The plague wave lasted about a year, and ca. one third of Greater Syria’s (Shām) and Egypt’s population died. (Translation: Undine Ott)

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1348, April 10 – 1348, May 10

The Black Death in Gaza: Some ten thousand people died of plague in the course of one month in Gaza in the beginning of 749 H (April-May 1348) according to a report (muṭālaʿa) the gouvernor (nāʾib) of Gaza had sent to Damascus.

(Translation needed)

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1348, May – 1348, June

The Black Death at the Levantine coast (sawāḥil): The inhabitants of Damascus, after having heard about plague (wabāʾ) in the Levantine coastal plain and other regions, feared it might reach their city, too, and many people might die of the disease (dāʾ). For this reason, al-Bukhārī's (d. 870) hadith collection was recited in Damascus after Friday prayer on June 6, 1348. The judges and a group of people were present. Prayers of supplication were spoken, asking God to bring the pandemic to an end. On June 9, surah "Nūḥ" from the Quran was recited 3,363 times.

(Translation needed)

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1348, May 31 – 1348, September VN: 1000 + 300 + 2400

In the beginning of Rabīʿ I, 749 H (the month began on May 31, 1348) news about the Black Death in Gaza reached Aleppo while the author stayed there. The daily death toll had reportedly amounted to more than 1,000. Ibn Baṭṭūṭa then traveled on to Ḥoms which had already been affected by the plague; ca. 300 people died on the day of his arrival. He went on to Damascus whose inhabitants had fasted for three days [July 22 to 24] and on Friday set out for the Mosque of the Footprints (Aqdām). God subsequently reduced the burden of plague lasting on them. The daily death toll in the city had amounted to 2,400. Ibn Baṭṭūṭa traveled on to ʿAjlūn, and then to Jerusalem where the plague wave had already come to an end.

In the first days of the month of Rabīʿ I in the year forty-nine news reached us in Aleppo that plague had broken out in Ghazza and that the number of dead there exceeded thousand a day. I went to Ḥims and found that the plague had already struck there; about three hundred persons died on the day of my arrival. I went to Damascus and arrived on a Thursday; the people had been fasting for three days. On Friday they went to the Mosque of the Footprints, as we have related in the first book. God alleviated their plague. The number of deaths among them had risen to two thousand four hundred a day. Then I went to ʿAjlūn, and then to Bait al-Muqaddas [Jerusalem], where I found the plague had ceased.

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1348, June 1 – 1349, February 1

The Black Death reaches Almeria and other parts of Spain like Valencia and Majorca, but also Northern Africa with cities like Tlemcen and Tunisia. Mortality varies by month and also social topography is provided.

Diese Pest, die jetzt entstanden ist, und nach der gefragt wurde, scheint mir aus der ersten Art der erwähnten Ursachen entstanden zu sein. Es spricht dafür, dass sie sich in den meisten, wenn nicht in allen Ländern, zu allen Jahreszeiten jahrelang hin durch ausbreitete, ohne daß die Regeln des Regens, des Wehens der Winde in den verschiedenen Jahreszeiten sich viel ändern, weder nach eigener Beobachtung noch nach dem, was uns aus anderen Ländern erzählt wird. Die Jahreszeiten wechseln, ohne dass ihr Wechsel die Krankheit anscheinend beeinflusst, sondern sie bleibt sich immer gleich. Sie brach in Almeriah Anfang Rabi I. Jahr 749 aus (1. Juni 1348), wütete einen Teil des Frühlings, den ganzen Sommer bis in die Herbstmonate und einen Teil des Winters bis jetzt, wo mein Buch geschrieben wird, Mitte Di-lkifdah, das heisst die ersten Tage des Februar. Bis jetzt ist sie nicht weg, aber die Erscheinungen der Gnade Gottes sind zu spüren, möge er uns recht bald seine Gnade ganz zuwenden! Die ganze Zeit hindurch blieb die Art der Krankheit die gleiche; es kam aber vor, daß die Symptome sich den Jahreszeiten anpaßten. Sie fing leicht an, und es waren zuerst nur wenige Leute, die befallen wurden; dann nahm sie allmählich und (p. 41) leicht zu bis Ende Ğumādā 2., das heißt Ende September, und dann nahm sie heftig zu und erhielt sich ungefähr mit gleicher Heftigkeit bis jetzt. Es war äußerst gnädig von Gott, daß sie in Almeriah so leicht angefangen hat, denn wenn sie plötzlich die Leute überfallen hätte, wie das in anderen Stätten des Islam der Fall war, wären die Einwohner infolge des Schreckens hilflos zu grunde gegangen. Sie hat angefangen in einer Ecke der Stadt, die unter dem Namen Hūām bekannt ist, die Nordostecke am Ğabala, die Wohnstätte der Armen und Bedürftigen. Die ersten Fälle waren von Leuten mit dem Namen Beni Danna bekannt, und von ihnen aus verbreitete sich die Krankheit allmählich unter den Nachbarn langsam zunehmend, und auf die Umgebung übergreifend, bis sie die äußeren Grenzen der Stadt und dann das Stadtinnere erreichte. Die Höchstzahl an Todesfällen an einem Tage während der ganzen Zeit war 70, eine Zahl, die verhältnismäßig gering ist verglichen mit dem, was uns über andere Städte des Islam und der Christen berichtet wurde. Glaubwürdige Berichterstatter erzählten uns, daß an einem Tage in Tunis 1202 Todesfälle vorkamen, in Tilimsan über 700, unlägst in Valencia am Unsoratag 1500, auf der Insel Mallorca am 24. Mai 1252, wo die Überlebenden auf etwa ein Viertel der Gesamtzahl der Einwohner geschätzt wurden. Das gleiche wurde uns über alle größeren und kleineren Städte berichtet.

This plague which has now arisen, and which has been enquired after, seems to me to have arisen from the first kind of causes mentioned. It appears that in most, if not in all countries, it spread through all seasons for years, without much change in the rules of the rain, the blowing of the winds in the different seasons, either from our own observation or from what we are told from other countries. The seasons change without their change apparently affecting the disease, but it always remains the same. It broke out in Almeriah at the beginning of Rabi I year 749 (1 June 1348), raged part of the spring, the whole summer until the autumn months and part of the winter until now, when my book is being written, in the middle of Di-lkifdah, that is, the first days of February. So far it has not gone, but the manifestations of God's grace can be felt, may he turn his grace to us completely very soon! All this time the nature of the illness remained the same, but it happened that the symptoms changed with the seasons. It began lightly, and at first only a few people were afflicted; then it gradually and (p. 41) slightly increased until the end of Ğumādā 2, that is, the end of September, and then it increased violently and continued with about the same severity until now. It was most merciful of God that it started so easily in Almeriah, for if it had suddenly attacked the people, as it did in other places of Islam, the inhabitants would have perished helplessly as a result of the terror. It started in a corner of the city known as Hūām, the north-east corner of Ğabala, the home of the poor and needy. The first cases were known from people called Beni Danna, and from them the disease gradually spread among the neighbours, slowly increasing and spreading to the surrounding area until it reached the outer limits of the city and then the city centre. The maximum number of deaths in one day during the entire period was 70, a number that is relatively low compared to what we have been told about other Islamic and Christian cities. Credible reporters told us that there were 1202 deaths in one day in Tunis, over 700 in Tlemcen, 1500 in Valencia on the day of the Unsorat, and 1252 on the island of Mallorca on 24 May, where the survivors were estimated at about a quarter of the total number of inhabitants. The same was reported for all larger and smaller towns. (Translation: Martin Bauch)

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1348, June 29 – 1348, July 28 VN: 200 per day

The number of plague deaths in Damascus increased in the month of Rabīʿ II 749 H (June 29–July 28, 1348). More than 200 people died per day, and the removal of the dead bodies was delayed. Poor people suffered the highest losses. On July 3, 1348, the Friday preacher prescribed to recite prayers and supplications asking for the plague to abate. The abolition of taxes (ḍamān) on funeral services by the governor of Syria (nāʾib al-salṭana) Sayf al-Dīn Arghūn-Shāh al-Nāṣirī was proclaimed on July 14. On July 21, it was announced that the inhabitants of Damascus should fast for three days, and on day four abase themselves before God at the suburban Mosque of the Footprint (Qadam) and implore him to end the plague; afterwards, people set out for the desert to recite prayers of supplication, including Jews, Christians, and Samaritans, high and low, etc.

(Translation needed)

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1348, July VN: 24.000 + 2000

In the days of the Black Death, in late July 1348, the governor of Syria Arghūn-Shāh ordered the inhabitants of Damascus to fast for three days and to close the food stalls in the market. People fasted from July 22 to 24. Afterwards, the elites and the other social strata flocked to the Umayyad Mosque to recite ritual prayers, supplications and invocations of God. They spent the night there, and at dawn the morning prayer was said. Then all the inhabitants of the city – men, women and children – went out to the Mosque of the Footprints (Aqdām), the amirs on bare feet. Muslims, Jews, and Christians all took part, carrying their respective Books and imploring God. At the mosque, people abased themselves before God and supplicated him. At noon they returned to the city and the Friday prayer was said. God, then, reduced their suffering. The daily death toll in Damascus did not reach 2,000 whereas in Cairo it amounted to 24,000.

Anecdote: I witnessed at the time of the Great Plague at Damascus in the latter part of the month of Second Rabīʿ of the year 49, a remarkable instance of the veneration of the people of Damascus for this mosque. Arghun-Shah, king of the amirs and the Sultan's viceroy, ordered a crier to proclaim through Damascus that the people should fast for three days and that no one should cook in the bazaar during the daytime anything to be eaten (for most of the people there eat no food but what has been prepared in the bazaar). So the people fasted for three successive days, the last of which was a Thursday. At the end of this period the amirs, sharifs, qadis, doctors of the Law, and all other classes of the people in their several degrees, assembled in the Great Mosque, until it was filled to overflowing with them, and spent the Thursday night there in prayers and liturgies and supplications. Then, after performing the dawn prayer [on the Friday morning], they all went out together on foot carrying Qur'ans in their hands — the amirs too barefooted. The entire population of the city joined in the exodus, male and female, small and large; the Jews went out with their book of the Law and the Christians with their Gospel, their women and children with them; the whole concourse of them in tears and humble supplications, imploring the favour of God through His Books and His Prophets. They made their way to the Mosque of the Footprints and remained there in supplication and invocation until near midday, then returned to the city and held the Friday service. God Most High lightened their affliction; the number of deaths in a single day reached a maximum of two thousand, whereas the number rose in Cairo and Old Cairo to twenty-four thousand in a day.

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1348, August 7 – 1348, September 27

On August 7, 1348 the number of plague deaths in Damascus and its surroundings reached almost 300. Around September 10 (in mid-Jumādā II 749 H), the number of deceased further increased; both elite and common people died; the exact death toll remained unknown. On August 18, the governor of Syria (nāʾib al-salṭana) ordered all dogs in the city to be killed. On September 27 [or, according to one manuscript: October 3], 42 deceased were prayed for at the Umayyad Mosque alone; the mosque didn’t provide enough space for all the corpses, so some had to be placed outside the Sirr Gate.

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On Thursday, the 10th of Jumada al-Awwal, after the noon prayer, the preacher performed a funeral prayer for sixteen deceased individuals all at once. This greatly alarmed and terrified the people, as death was striking many, and the death toll in the town and its surroundings reached nearly three hundred. Indeed, we belong to Allah, and to Him we shall return. After the prayer, another funeral prayer was performed for fifteen deceased individuals at the Great Mosque of Damascus, and at the Mosque of Khalil, a prayer was performed for eleven souls. May Allah have mercy on them. On Monday, the 21st of the same month, the deputy of the Sultanate ordered the killing of dogs in the town. These dogs had become numerous throughout the town, and there were reports of them attacking people and blocking their way during the night. The defilement of places by these dogs had become widespread, making it difficult to avoid. Many had compiled sections of the hadiths regarding their killing and the differences among the scholars on this issue. Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, used to command in his sermons to slaughter pigeons and kill dogs. Malik, in the narration of Ibn Wahb, stated that it is permissible to kill dogs in a town where they cause harm, provided the Imam permits it for the public interest. On Friday, the second of the month of Rajab, after the Friday prayer at the Umayyad Mosque, a funeral prayer was performed for someone absent, who was Judge Alauddin, the son of Judge Shubha. Then, a funeral prayer was performed for forty-one deceased individuals all at once. The interior of the mosque could not accommodate them, so some of the deceased were taken outside to the gate of Al-Sirr. The preacher and the naqeeb (head of a group) went out and prayed for all of them there. It was a significant and solemn moment, a great tragedy. Indeed, we belong to Allah, and to Him we shall return (Translation: ChatGPT-3.5)

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1348, September – 1348, October

A pilgrimage caravan left Cairo for Mecca in Rajab 749 H (September 26 to October 24, 1348). The Black Death accompanied it until it reached the Ayla pass (ʿAqaba).

When I arrived in Cairo I found that the Grand Qāḍī ʿIzz al-Dīn, son of the Grand Qāḍī Badr al-Dīn, son of Jamāʿa, had set out for Mecca in a huge caravan called Rajabī, because it leaves in the month of Rajab. I was told that the plague was among them until they reached the pass of Aila where it ceased.

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1348, October 7 VN: 150

On October 7, 1348 the number of people who had died of plague and were prayed for at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus reached 150 or more; not included were inhabitants of the outskirts of the city and members of the protected religious minorities (ahl al-dhimma) whose bodies were not brought to the Umayyad Mosque. It was said that on many days, casualties in the outskirts of Damascus (ḥawāḍir al-balad) reached more than 1,000. On October 7, a dust storm reached Damascus; people prayed to God and ask for this to be the end of the plague; things only got worse afterwards, though. On Miʿrāj Night (October 21), not as many people as usual gathered in the Umayyad Mosque because so many people had died of plague and many more were occupied caring for the sick and the deceased. In the beginning of Shaʿbān 749 H (the month began on October 25), many people were infected with plague (fanāʾ), and often there would be a bad smell in the city.

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(Translation needed)

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1349, January 27

On January 27, 1349, the Friday preacher Tāj al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Qazwīnī died of plague in Damascus after two days of illness. The members of his household were infected, too; his brother Ṣadr al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Karīm died soon afterwards.

(Translation needed)

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1349, March 22 – 1350, March 10 VN: 500 + 20

In the year 750 H (March 22, 1349 to March 10, 1350), the number of plague infections in Damascus greatly declined. The number of deceased people with taxable inheritance which the Office of Inheritances (dīwān al-mawārīth) recorded was ca. 20 for 750 H while it had been 500 for 749 H (April 1, 1348 to March 21, 1349). Plague did not yet disappear entirely, though: on March 25, 1349, the jurist Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad b. al-Thiqa, his son and his brother all died of plague within one hour. They were buried in one grave.

(Translation needed)

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1361, October – 1362, October

A deadly disease (fanāʾ) hit Cairo, Alexandria and further places in 763 H (October 31, 1361 to October 19, 1362). Many people died.

"In the year 763 AH (1362-1363 AD), a plague struck Egypt, Alexandria, and other places, causing the death of many people. In the year 775 AH (1373-1374 AD), a calamity befell in Ben Saghta. (3) In Ben: many people died. (4) In: the number increased in Ben and decreased elsewhere. (5) Among the original inhabitants, many died, and in Ben, the number increased and decreased elsewhere." (Translation: ChatGPT-3.5)

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1362, October 20 – 1363, October 9 VN: 2000

A deadly disease (wabāʾ) hit Egypt in 764 H (October 20, 1362 to October 9, 1363), the maximum daily death toll reached 2,000. The disease was then transmitted to Greater Syria.

Mortalitas magna per totum fere mundum

There was a great mortality in almost all of the world. (Translation: Thomas Wozniak)

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1365, October

A Muslim woman who had been taken prisoner by the Franks who had seized Alexandria in October 1365 reportedly related that after the Franks had withdrawn from the city [around October 12], an epidemic (wabāʾ) broke out among its inhabitants. The disease was caused by an odor that altered the air and by the smell emanating from the bodies of those who had been killed during the conquest and whose corpses had been lying around for too long. The maximum daily death toll exceeded 100. The woman, then, began to work as a washer of female corpses in order to earn a living.

(Translation needed)

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1369, May 9

Five men stated before a Jerusalem notary sometime between October 12 and 21, 1369 that they knew a shaykh named ʿAlī b. Badr al-Dīn who was a resident of Jerusalem. They stated they knew that the shaykh had left Jerusalem for Damascus while an epidemic (ṭāʿūn) was raging in the latter city and its surroundings. The shaykh had left Jerusalem in the beginning of the month of Shawwāl 770 H (May 9 to June 6, 1369) with a couple of associates and had stayed in Damascus in a Sufi khanaqah for some days. The witnesses stated that he had intended to proceed from Damascus to Aleppo but that his further whereabouts were unknown to them.

بسم اللّه الرّحمن الرّحيم يقول الواضعون خطوطهم آخره من المشائخ والفقراء والعدول إنّهم يشهدون شهادة لا يشكّون فيها ولا يرتابون أنّهم يعرفون الشّيخ عليّ بن الشّيخ بدر الدّين اللذي المقيم بالقدس الشّريف أنّه سافر من القدس الشّريف مع رفاقه ومشائخ وغيرهم إلى دمشق المحروسة في مستهلّ شهر شوّال سنة سبعين وسبع ماية في الطّاعون وأنّه أقام بدمشق في خانقاه القصّاعين مدّة أيّام في خدمة الشّيخ والفقراء بها وأنّه ذكر أنّه متوجّه إلى مدينة حلب لزيارة أخيه وأنّه لم يعلم بعد ذلك له خبر ولا عرف أين يوجد بعد ذلك وبذلك وضعوا خطوطهم مسولين في العشر الأوسط من شهر ربيع الأوّل سنة إحدى وسبعين وسبع ماية أعرف الشّيخ عليّ المذكور أعلاه وأشهد أنّه توجّه إلى دمشق في الطّاعون صحبة المشائخ وغيرهم وأنّه أقام المذكور بدمشق أيّام وذكر عليّ المذكور أنّه يتوجّه إلى حلب لزيارة أخيه كتبه عبد اللّه بن خضر الحنفيّ أشهد بمضمونه كتبه خليل بن محمّد الحنفيّ أشهد أنّ الأمر على ما نصّ وشرح أعلاه وكان الطّاعون بدمشق وضواحيها كتبه عمر بن أبي القاسم الشّافيعيّ أشهد بمضمونه كتبه محمّد بن خليل الشّافعيّ كذلك يشهد عبد اللّه بن محمّد الشّريف

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate The undersigned elders, the poor and the righteous say that they testify without doubt or doubt that they know Shaykh Ali bin Shaykh al-Shaykh Badr al-Din, who resides in Jerusalem, that he travelled from Jerusalem with his companions and other elders to Damascus at the beginning of the month of Shawwal in the year seventy-seventy-seven, during the plague He stayed in Damascus in the Khanqah al-Qassa'een for a few days in the service of the sheikh and the poor in Damascus. He mentioned that he was travelling to Aleppo to visit his brother and that he did not know after that He did not know his whereabouts after that, and so they put their lines on the tenth of The middle tenth of the month of Rabi al-Awwal in the year seventy-one and seven hundred and seventy-seven I know the aforementioned Sheikh Ali I testify that he travelled to Damascus during the plague in the company of the elders and others and that he stayed in Damascus for a few days and the aforementioned Ali mentioned that he was travelling to Aleppo to visit his brother Written by Abdullah bin Khadir al-Hanafi I testify to its content Written by Khalil bin Muhammad al-Hanafi I testify that the matter is as stated and explained above The plague was in Damascus and its environs Written by Omar ibn Abi al-Qasim al-Shafi'i I testify to its content Written by Muhammad ibn Khalil al-Shafi'i Abdullah also testifies Ibn Muhammad al-Sharif (Translation: DeepL)

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1374, March – 1374, September VN: 7000 + 12.000

Many people, mainly children, died of plague (ṭāʿūn, fanāʾ, wabāʾ) in Alexandria from Shawwāl 775 H (March 16 to April 14, 1374) to Rabīʿ I 776 H (August 10, 1374 to September 8, 1374). Up to 200 people died per day. In Shawwāl, 7,000 people perished within three days. In 775 H (1373), the Nile had failed to reach the necessary gauge (wafāʾ) during the summer flood, and many fields in Egypt could not be cultivated. Prices for grain and other foodstuffs rose in Egypt. Prices remained high also during the following year (776 H: June 13, 1374 to June 1, 1375) despite a sufficient Nile flood and the availability of grain. People became impoverished and died of hunger due to the rise in prices while grain merchants (khazzān) made huge profits. Finally, people revolted against inflation and famine. Plague came on top of famine. In Alexandria, 17,000 people reportedly died of plague, 12,000 of whom were male and female children. [...]

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(Translation needed)

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References

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