They found him flighty of mind and inept at governing. He even seized the bread rations of Fakhr al-Din Lala Jawhar (1). The emirs expected him to lavish money on them as he had done in Damascus, but he gave them nothing. His right shoulder and half of his face twitched constantly, and he was forever pulling at his beard. Whenever he became drunk he would slash the candles with his sword, declaring, “This is what I shall do to my father’s mamluks.” He went so far as to threaten the emirs with death, so they turned against him. Yet he was intelligent, widely versed, ever enquiring and fond of citing what he had learned.

Sibt ibn al-Jawzi (2) relates: “He would sit at the banquet in Damascus; if he heard a jurist quoting a point of law (3) he would shout, ‘We do not concede!’”

He withdrew from the affairs of the people and plunged into vice with boys, a sin from which his father had been free. It is also said that he interfered with his father’s concubines and promoted the basest of men (4). He promised Aqtay a command but never granted it, and Aqtay grew angry. Shajar al-Durr had already travelled from al-Mansurah to Cairo; once she arrived he kept threatening her and demanding money (5), so she plotted against him.

In Muharram (6) of the year forty-eight [648 AH], some of the Baḥriyya attacked him during a banquet, struck his hand and cut off his fingers. He retreated to the wooden tower and cried, “Who did this?” They answered, “An Ismaʿili.” He retorted, “No, by Allah, it was one of the Baḥriyya. By Allah, I shall wipe them out!”

The surgeon stitched up his hand, but the assailants said, “Finish him off (7) tonight, or we are leaving.” They rushed at him, so he climbed to the top of the tower; they bombarded the structure with naphtha and arrows,