of (manager) and vizier to assist him throughout much of his rule in matters of finance and correspondence. This official had always been a Melkite (local Greek Catholic). His first vizier was Yusuf al-Arqash, followed by Yusuf Qassis in 1749. Qassis continued in this role until the early 1760s when he was arrested for attempting to smuggle wealth he had accumulated during his service to Malta. He was succeeded by Ibrahim Sabbagh, who had served as a personal physician for Zahir in 1757 when he replaced Zahir's longtime physician Sulayman Suwwan. The latter was a local Greek Orthodox Christian and when he failed to properly treat Zahir during a serious illness in 1757, Qassis used the opportunity to replace him with Sabbagh, a friend and fellow Melkite. Sabbagh became the most influential figure in Zahir's administration, particularly as Zahir grew old. This caused consternation among Zahir's sons as they viewed Sabbagh to be a barrier between them and their father and an impediment to their growing power in Zahir's territory. Sabbagh was able to gain increased influence with Zahir largely because of the wealth he amassed through his integral role in managing Zahir's cotton monopoly. Much of this wealth was acquired through Sabbagh's own deals where he would purchase cotton and other cash crops from the local farmers and sell them to the European merchants in Syria's coastal cities and to his Melkite partners in Damietta, Egypt. Sabbagh served other important roles as well, including as Zahir's political adviser, main administrator and chief representative with European merchants and Ottoman provincial and imperial officials. There were other officials in Zahir's civil administration in Acre, including chief religious officials, namely the mufti and the qadi (judge). The mufti was the chief scholar among the ulema (Muslim scholarly community) and oversaw the interpretation of Islamic law in Zahir's realm. Although he was appointed by the Sublime Porte, Zahir managed to maintain the same mufti for many years at a time in contrast with the typical Syrian province which saw its mufti replaced annually. The mufti was a Damascene, Abd al-Halim al-Shuwayki, who had been an old friend of Zahir's family when they were based in Tiberias and had often hosted Zahir during his business trips to Damascus. Zahir directly appointed the qadi from Palestine's local ulema, but his judicial decisions had to be approved by the qadi of Sidon. Zahir had a chief