Baghdad collapsed in its entirety, and only the width of two fingers remained before the water spilled over the top of the city wall… until he went on to say: “Baghdad on both banks was left as mere mounds, with no trace of habitation.”

I said: It is astonishing that Abū Shāmah (1) should also transmit this report without paying heed to what he is saying.

Abū al-Muẓaffar (2) stated: “Khwarazm Shāh advanced with four hundred thousand men, intending to march on Baghdad. Al-Nāṣir made his preparations, distributed money and equipment, and dispatched the Sufi master al-Suhrawardī (3) to him as an envoy. Khwarazm Shāh insulted the envoy, kept him standing and did not seat him, while the Persian kings were in attendance.

“He was a young man seated upon a throne, wearing a cloak worth five dirhams, with a leather cap on his head worth one dirham. I offered him the greeting of peace, but he did not return it. I then addressed him, extolling the merits of the Banū al-ʿAbbās and magnifying the Caliph, and the interpreter repeated my words to him.

“Khwarazm Shāh said to the interpreter: ‘Tell this man who is praising him: the one you extol is not in Baghdad. I, however, shall install a caliph such as you describe.’ He dismissed us without any reply. A tremendous snowfall then descended; their horses perished and they went hungry. With him were seventy thousand Khitans, yet Allah turned him away from Baghdad.

“It was also said that he declared, ‘Have I harmed anyone of the Banū al-ʿAbbās? Indeed, in the Caliph’s own army there are multitudes of them. Convey this to the Caliph’s ears.’ Allah restrained him with snows that defy description.” (4)

In the same year the Frankish armies set out for Jerusalem to exact revenge. They reached Baisān, and al-ʿĀdil fell back, so they pursued him. He encamped at Marj al-Ṣuffar (5), roused the troops and the kings, and the people clamoured in supplication. A truce had been in force, but it was broken, and the Franks plundered the lands of