They seized from around the Dome of the Rock forty-two silver lamps, each lamp weighing three thousand six hundred dirhams. They also carried off a silver brazier weighing forty Syrian pounds, together with twenty-three gold lamps. People then scattered in every direction, fleeing from al-Shām to Iraq and begging the caliph and the sultan for help against the Franks. Among those who came was the judge of Damascus, Abū Saʿd al-Harawī. When the people of Baghdad heard of this appalling calamity it overwhelmed them, and they broke down in tears. Abū Saʿd al-Harawī composed a piece that was read in the dīwān and from the pulpits; the listeners wept aloud. The caliph summoned the jurists to set out and urge the kings to wage jihad, so Ibn ʿAqīl and a number of leading scholars went forth among the populace, but it accomplished nothing. To Allah we belong and to Him we shall return.

In this connection Abū al-Muẓaffar al-Abīwardī said:

We have mingled our blood (1) with ever-flowing tears, … until none of us (2) is left a mark for the slingers.

The poorest weapon a man can brandish is tears (3) … once war has flared and blades have set it ablaze.

Come, O sons of Islam! Ahead of you lie encounters … that will cast the lofty headlong to the hoofs.

How can an eye sleep sound within its lids … while lapses have roused even the heaviest sleeper?

Your brothers in al-Shām take as their midday shade … the backs of fleet coursers or the bellies of vultures.

The Byzantines mete out humiliation to them, while you … trail the robes of ease like men of peace.

Between the snatched blow and the swift thrust is a clash … that will turn young boys gray at the forelock.

These are wars: whoever keeps clear of their tumult to be safe … will afterward bite his finger in regret.

By the hands of the idolaters sharp swords are drawn … to be sheathed in kidneys and in skulls.

He who seeks refuge in Ṭaybah is almost heard … crying at full voice, “O House of Hāshim!”

I see my nation not raising lances against the foe … while the pillars of the faith are crumbling.

They shrink from the fire for fear of death, … yet count as nothing the lasting brand of shame.

Will the proud chieftains of the Arabs (4) accept abuse, … while the stalwart non-Arab guardians (5) shut their eyes to disgrace?

Would that, if they will not defend religion out of zeal, … they would at least defend the honor of their women!

And if they spurn reward when battle’s murmur swells, … why then not come for the booty they might win? (6)