The Faryani's Mahdist claim

In 848 AH Shaykh Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Faryani al-Maghribi went to the Hamida mountains in the Holy Land. These are high mountains that are hard to climb, with only a single narrow path, and on the summit of one of them is a level area with farmland, springs of water and vineyards. Its people were very strong, and whoever sought refuge with them was safe, even if the sultan and his forces made war on them. Al-Faryani stayed with them and claimed to be the Mahdi. It is also said that he claimed to be al-Qahtani, and his claim gained currency there. He had come to Cairo and often visited al-Maqrizi, and he regularly toured the villages of the lower countryside, making promises and reminding people. He had a great memory for histories and past reports, claimed knowledge of the Prophetic hadith and its transmitters, turned away from the Maliki school, claimed to follow al-Shafiʿi, and was appointed judge of Nablus, until what appeared from him appeared ¹.

The claim revealed an expectation of a Mahdi that stirred at the edges of the Mamluk state. The man was a judge who moved between legal schools and a preacher who had memorized histories, before he announced his claim in the thickets of Palestine.