The Zephyr of Balm Trees in Those Who Became the Muftis of al-Sh?m (‘arf al-bash?m f? man waliya fatw? dimashq ash-sh?m) is a unique biographical dictionary focused on the muftis of the province of Damascus beginning with the first mufti instated by Selim I in (922/1516) and ending with the author, a mufti himself, Muhammad Khalil bin Ali bin Muhammad bin Murad al-Husayni al-Dimashqi (d. 1206/1791). The focus of this paper will fall less on the biographical entries themselves rather than on the dictionary’s peculiar introduction which in Muradi’s own words “comprises benefits that relate to the fatwa and the mufti." In this introduction Muradi details quite thoroughly a mufti’s ideal qualities and ideal role in society. Additionally, he spells out in great detail the manners and codes of conduct that both the mufti and the mustafti must follow in their interaction with one anther. While manners and codes of conduct are not an unusual genre, several aspects render this introduction of particular importance. First, it is quite unusual for biographical dictionaries of the Ottoman era to include a lengthy introduction, especially one that is longer than any of the individual biographical entries within text. Second, the introduction seems to implicitly provide the reader with a measure of the ideal mufti, one that can be applied to the biographies of the muftis included in the dictionary. In composing this work therefore, Muradi does not seem to have been concerned simply with providing the biographies of the province’s muftis but rather intended to assess them according to his measure of the ideal mufti. Reading Muradi’s views on his predecessors becomes particularly telling when it is compared with other sources of the time, most important of which is that of the famous damascene barber, al-Budayri. The contrast between Muradi’s idealistic views of the muftiship with that of al-Budayri’s often negative remarks of holders of the post, affords us a invaluable view of the urban classes’ awareness and critique of the ‘politics of the notables.’