The venerated mystic Shaykh ‘Abd Allah al-Manufi died in 1348. Some historians believe that his mausoleum dates to the first half of the 15th century judging by the style of its dome. Others suppose that Sultan Qaitbey, who was known for his piety and who restored many earlier buildings in Cairo, ordered the construction of the present dome when he was building his own funerary complex nearby in 1470-74. The leader of the Sufis associated with the Sultan’s mosque was, unusually, of the Maliki school of Islamic law, as was Shaykh ‘Abd Allah al-Manufi.

There is no date on the building itself. Apparently, its original form was that of an open canopy over the tomb, similar to those in the complex of Sultan Barsbay some 400 metres to the north. The modest but attractive structure has been added to through centuries, attesting to the Shaykh’s continued veneration.