He took possession of Bosra and Baalbek, his fortunes shifting from one state to another, and for a number of years he also held Damascus. The ruler of Egypt—his own nephew—went to war with him, and a long series of events unfolded, alternating between ascent and decline.

Although unlucky, he was a dashing, courageous, and imposing warrior, fierce in battle and handsome in appearance. He had served his brother al-Ashraf, but when al-Ashraf died he pounced upon Damascus and seized the throne. His other brother, Sultan al-Malik al-Kāmil, then marched against him, laid siege to the city, stripped him of Damascus, and sent him back to Baalbek.

After al-Kāmil’s death the sultanate passed to al-Jawād and then to al-Ṣāliḥ Najm al-Dīn. When Najm al-Dīn set out for Egypt, Ṣāliḥ Ismāʿīl, aided by the lord of Ḥimṣ al-Mujāhid, struck first and captured Damascus a second time in 637 AH (1). He held the city until 642 AH. Najm al-Dīn attacked him with Khwarazmian troops, whereas Ismāʿīl sought help from the Franks (2), granting them the fortress of al-Shaqīf and other strongholds; for that he was despised.

He was also guilty of oppression. He appointed al-Rafīʿ al-Jīlī chief judge, and the people of Damascus suffered terribly during the Khwarazmian siege: a pound of bread sold for six dirhams, with cheese and meat in similar proportion. They were driven to eat carrion, and a severe plague struck them.

Al-Muʾayyad relates in his History: When al-Ṣāliḥ Najm al-Dīn left Damascus to seize Egypt, a contingent of Egyptian troops defected to him. He had left his son al-Mughīth ʿUmar as deputy in Damascus and wrote to his uncle Ismāʿīl, summoning him from Baalbek. Ismāʿīl excused himself, professing loyalty while secretly plotting to seize Damascus. Najm al-Dīn Ayyūb perceived this and accordingly sent his physician Saʿd al-Dīn to Baalbek on the pretext of sightseeing, dispatching with him a cage of carrier pigeons from Nablus so that he might… (3)