—the people rushed out through the other gate, and the Franks occupied the city smoothly and without resistance—may Allah protect us from abandonment. The sultan was then at al-Manṣūra; in his fury against its inhabitants he hanged sixty of their leading men, who tasted humiliation and hunger. The troops grew estranged from the sultan—some said his mamluks even plotted to kill him—whereupon his deputy Fakhr al-Dīn ibn al-Shaykh said, “Be patient; he is at death’s door.”
He died in mid-Shaʿbān, and his death was concealed until his son, al-Muʿaẓẓam Turānshāh, could be brought from Ḥiṣn Kayfā. No sooner had he arrived than they killed him as well. The battle of al-Manṣūra occurred in Dhū al-Qaʿda: the Franks advanced as far as the royal camp, and the viceroy Fakhr al-Dīn ibn al-Shaykh sallied forth, fought, and was slain. The Muslims were routed and the crisis became grave; then the army rallied, wheeled back against the enemy, crushed them, slew great numbers, and victory descended.
Later, in Dhū al-Ḥijja, al-Muʿaẓẓam himself arrived, having resolved to dispatch Fakhr al-Dīn because he had heard that the latter aspired to the throne.
The year eight dawned with the Franks still facing the Muslims at al-Manṣūra, yet they were weakened and starving, their horses dead. The French king (1) resolved to slip away by night to Damietta, but the Muslims learned of his plan. The Franks had built a massive bridge over the Nile, and in their panic neglected to cut it; the Muslims crossed, burst upon them, and the Franks fled to Minyat Abī ʿAbd Allāh. The Muslim army surrounded them, the Muslim fleet overpowered their fleet and captured their ships, and the French king was left with five hundred knights, forsaken. He summoned the eunuch Rashīd and Sayf al-Dīn al-Qaymarī; when they came, he asked for safe-conduct, which we granted on the condition that he not be paraded before the people.
The greater part of the Franks fled; the army pursued them and destroyed them piecemeal until their entire host was wiped out—it was even said that only two knights escaped, only to drown in the sea! The Muslims seized booty beyond all reckoning.