Barziya1 was taken on terms of safe-conduct; then Saladin—may Allah support him—marched to Darbsak2, which likewise surrendered, after which he advanced to Baghras3 and received it as well. He concluded an armistice with the lord of Antioch4. The siege of al-Karak dragged on at length, and its garrison at last capitulated out of hunger5; they next yielded al-Shawbak under a guarantee of safety, whereupon the Sultan moved against Ṣafad6.

In the year 584 AH Saladin never slackened or rested from fighting the Franks. The army of al-Nāṣir set out against them under the command of the vizier Ibn Yūnus7. He drew up the battle line alongside Sultan Tughril, but the troops of al-Nāṣir were routed and fell back. Ibn Yūnus, however, stood firm with only a handful of men, an open Qur’an in one hand and a drawn sword in the other. A man seized his horse’s bridle, led him to a camp, and had him dismount. The Sultan and his vizier came to him, and he kept to the protocol of the vizierate, not even rising; they were astonished, and he continued to be treated with honour8 until he was sent back.

As for the author of the Mirʾāt, he relates9: Ibn Yūnus was brought before Tughril, who set a conical cap with bells upon his head; the army scattered, and Quzul, brother of al-Bahlawān, marched out and defeated Tughril, taking Ibn Yūnus with him. They proceeded to Khilāṭ, where Buktemur reproached him for what he had done. He replied, “They were the ones who began with me.”

He continues: the vizier was released, and, unable to oppose Buktemur, he accepted the decision. Buktemur outfitted him with horses and mamluks, but he declined, taking only two saddled mules. Accompanied by his servant in Sufi garb, he travelled incognito to Mosul and from there sailed by boat to Baghdad.