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
ʿAlā ad-Dīn al-Baṣīr (): is a nickname that means "astute, insightful" (). The nickname also becomes () and / () in placenames. ʿAlā ad-Dīn Aydughdī ibn ʿAbdallāh aṣ-Ṣaliḥī an-Najmī (): is a nisba (noun + ), meaning he was a mamluk of aṣ-Ṣāliḥ Najm ad-Dīn, an Ayyūbid emir. ʿAlā ad-Dīn Aydughdī ar-Ruknī (): may refer to Baybars (), a Mamlūk sultan whom he served. p.198 "quant à Rukni, il se rapporte peut-être à Baibars, qui était surnommé Rukn al-dīn."
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.
Aladdin Ribat (ʿAlā ad-Dīn al-Baṣīr Ribat) / al-Baṣīrī 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 (ʿAlā ad-Dīn al-Baṣīr Gate) was named after the ribat. Aladdin Street: named after the ribat. al-Būṣayrī Sabil (al-Baṣīr Sabil), a sebil (fountain) named after him. Ablution Gate and the Ablution Place west (outside) of the gate: restored by him.. A map of ʿUthmāniyya Madrasa, with the ablution place to its west.
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