This book arrived quickly for us to take from us what we live by, and peace be upon you. When he read the letter, he wept and was overcome with emotion, and compassion took hold of him for his two brothers. So he went to them, and I was then seven years old. I had begun the Quran and reached the end of my life in worship. My uncle Khalij was four years old, and he left us enough provisions for a year and a half. So we lived for a year, during which my mother sold many things of copper and jewelry. Then my younger uncle, named Al-Dhahir, came and took us under his care. He had come for trade and commerce, and he had a son who was like a bright star in the sky, named Muhammad. He was a year and a half old and was fatter than my age. He used to go with me to the maktab to read the Quran until my mother traveled at the end of the year. Then the French entered Cairo and took possession of it at the beginning of the year. My uncle was then with the pilgrims, so the invasion fled, and then they fled. All who entered the pilgrims found the French in Egypt and its affairs, and they remained so until the beginning of the year. Then the minister came with the armies, and the French left. The aforementioned son of my uncle had memorized the Quran and began to attend lessons of knowledge. He was of such modesty and good manners that in that year epidemics and death struck the aforementioned son of my uncle. So I took him from the palaces to the graves.