"This man spread upon Cairo the flood of his generosity: there was no person, officer of the court or holder of any office of the Sultanate who did not receive a sum of gold from him. The people of Cairo earned incalculable sums from him, whether by buying and selling or by gifts. So much gold was current in Cairo that it ruined the value of money. Let me add that gold in Egypt had enjoyed a high rate of exchange up to the moment of their arrival. The mithqal did not go below twenty-five dirhams and was generally above, but from that time its value fell and it cheapened in price and has remained cheap till now."

Al-Umari, Masalik al-Absar (Pathways of Vision), written c.1337. Al-Umari was an Egyptian court official who interviewed people in Cairo who had witnessed Mansa Musa's pilgrimage twelve years earlier.