Ibn al-Athir relates that he entrusted authority to Ismaʿil and bequeathed Baʿlabakk to his son Muhammad.

It was also said that he was extraordinary in jihad, never tiring of campaigning against the Franks; had he commanded a large army, he would have annihilated them (1).

329 – Shams al-Muluk Ismaʿil ibn Buri ibn Tughtikin, the Turk

The lord of Damascus, Shams al-Muluk Ismaʿil ibn Buri, son of the atabeg Tughtikin the Turk, assumed power after his father in Rajab 526 AH. He was a gallant, courageous champion, energetic and bold like his forebears, yet a harsh and overbearing tyrant.

He recovered Baniyas from the Franks in just two days; the Ismaʿilis had sold the fortress to them seven years earlier. He set their lands ablaze and trod them underfoot in humiliation. Marching on, he besieged his brother in Baʿlabakk, then invested Hama—which belonged to the atabeg Zangi—and took it when he heard that the caliph al-Mustarshid was besieging Mosul. He confiscated the wealth of the rich and of the fiscal departments, oppressing and acting with arrogance. Later he changed tack and wrote to the atabeg Zangi, offering to hand Damascus over to him. His mother Zumurrud and the leading amirs grew fearful, so his mother arranged for his murder, for he had threatened her when she advised him against the killings. Even the Franks feared him, for he had routed them, attacked them by night, launched raids into their lands, and tripped them up,