236 – Ṣāliḥ b. Mirdās, Asad al-Dawla al-Kilābī*
The emir, Asad al-Dawla al-Kilābī, was numbered among the great Arab chieftains.
He took control of Aleppo, wresting it from Murtadā al-Dawla, the Fatimid governor serving al-Ẓāhir, in 417 AH. The Egyptians, led by al-Dizbarī (1), advanced against him, and the decisive battle was fought at al-Uqḥuwāna (2) in Jumada I of 420 AH. Ṣāliḥ was killed there; Baalbek was likewise under his authority at the time (3).
His son Abū Kāmil Naṣr escaped, seized Aleppo, and received the honorific Sayyid al-Dawla (4). He remained in power until 429 AH. Then he and the Egyptian army met in battle near Ḥamāt; Naṣr was killed, and al-Dizbarī captured Aleppo and the whole of Syria, holding them until his death in Aleppo in 434 AH (5).
Afterwards, Thumāl b. Ṣāliḥ—known as Muʿizz al-Dawla—came from al-Raḥba, took Aleppo, and ruled it until 440 AH. The Egyptians fought him and he routed them; they confronted him again and again he defeated them, firmly establishing his authority. He then concluded a truce with the ruler of Egypt and set out for