either through incapacity or because he judged them too exorbitant; for he had stipulated that Damascus, one half of Egypt, and other holdings be ceded to him.

Among al-Nāṣir’s worthy deeds is that, after his uncle had handed Jerusalem over to the Franks, who thereupon built themselves a citadel, al-Nāṣir came, set up mangonels against it, recovered the city on terms of safe conduct, demolished the fortress, and cleansed the town of the Franks.

Later al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ mistreated al-Nāṣir. He mustered an army that laid waste to al-Nāṣir’s lands and seized parts of them, harassing him continually until nothing remained to him but al-Karak. In 644 AH Fakhr al-Dīn Ibn al-Shaykh besieged him there for a few days and then withdrew, leaving al-Nāṣir with very little.

He therefore dispatched his envoy al-Khusru-Shāhī, together with his son al-Amjad, to al-Ṣāliḥ, asking that he be granted a maintenance allowance (“bread”) in Egypt in return for surrendering al-Karak. Al-Ṣāliḥ agreed, but he fell ill, and al-Nāṣir’s determination waned.

Wearied by the burdens of kingship, al-Nāṣir appointed his son ʿĪsā as his deputy in al-Karak, took with him jewels and treasures, was honoured by the lord of Aleppo, and then travelled to Baghdad. There he deposited those valuables—worth about one hundred thousand dinars—with al-Mustaʿṣim, yet he never recovered any of them ⦗1⦘.

Afterwards al-Amjad and his brother al-Ẓāhir were aggrieved because their father had placed over them al-Muʿaẓẓam ʿĪsā, who was the son of a concubine, whereas their own mother was the daughter of al-Kāmil. During al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ’s imprisonment in al-Karak their mother had shown kindness to him, for he was her brother; consequently the two brothers loved him and he found comfort in their company. Together with their mother they agreed to seize al-Muʿaẓẓam, did so, and took possession of al-Karak. Al-Amjad then carried the city’s keys to al-Ṣāliḥ, took firm assurances from him, and received a revenue allotment (“bread”) in Egypt. The sons of al-Nāṣir moved to al-Ṣāliḥ’s court, and he granted them fiefs. This news weighed heavily on al-Nāṣir; al-Ṣāliḥ himself was cast into deep sorrow and died. Al-Nāṣir thereupon joined forces with al-Nāṣir ⦗2⦘ when the latter assumed the sultanate in Syria.

The Sultan fell ill; when word reached him that Dāwud had spoken about the matter of kingship, he imprisoned him in Homs for a time, and then there came