The only niyāba in the third Ṣafaqa (ash-shamālīya). During the reign of an-Nāṣir Muḥammad b. Qalāwūn it was an amir of ten. Now it has become an amir of forty. In all cases, the nāʾib ash-Shām is independent in its appointment, and sometimes he is appointed by the sultanic gates. (taʿrīf) It has a specific wilāya, i.e. no wilāya al-madīna.